JPHiP Forum
The Hello! Project Fanfics => H!P Fanfics => Topic started by: rokun on October 10, 2008, 02:09:42 AM
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Hello everyone! Well, after a bit of a wait, here's the (hopefully somewhat) awaited sequel to The Circle of Three. :) I don't have much time online now, but I'll hopefully talk more after comments later... So here we go! What am I getting myself into... ^^;
Prologue – The Bitterness of Truth
Maimi woke to a headache that felt as if it would split her head open at any moment.
“Unnhh….” she moaned, grabbing the sides of her head between her hands when she tried, stupidly obviously, to sit up. Her memory was foggy at the moment, but she had the strangest sense of déjà vu after opening her eyes and seeing the white serrated ceiling sloping down over the small room containing the appropriately small bed she lay in.
“Where am I…?” she asked no one in particular as she dared enough to roll her head to look around and find no one else in the room and only a plain door closed at its entrance. “I have to get up…”
She still didn’t remember what she had been doing and why she might have ended up in this place that looked so familiar, but she recognized a sense of purpose in her that flared strongly from some mysterious source. Trying once again to rise, and once again failing, she lay back comfortably on the bed to try to regain her senses.
She slid her hands down her body to see what kind of clothes she was wearing – it felt like it was a dress of some expensive material, but seemed torn and tattered in spots. Was I in a fight…? she thought. Feeling a stinging sensation below her chest, she unbuttoned her dress slightly to check it out, and found skin that seemed burned and slightly scarred. What could have caused that? It was like she had been on fire…
Then it came back to her, in a rush that left her with an even worse headache than before.
“Airi…” she growled, tenderly running a finger along the circular patch of skin. The girl she’d loved, the girl who had somehow as if out of her wildest dreams undergone an apparent change of heart and loved her back, or at least seemed to… The girl that nearly killed her…
She thought back to the fight. The three of them had nearly put that accursed Natsuyaki girl down for good, and out of nowhere Airi had called her name. There was a flash of light, and the next thing she knew she woke up in this room again.
Again…
She remembered where she was now. This is the room she had awoken in before… been woken in… and where the adventure with the girl she loved began. Why was she here now though? When fighting, they had been in some large grassy area she could hardly imagine would have been in the city. If she’d lost, she figured she’d be dead or at least in a hospital. If she won, wouldn’t she be waited on left and right by house servants to the new rulers of Japan? Plus, if they had won, why would she be in this place, of all of them?
She tried to shake her head of the thoughts that would get her nowhere at the moment.
Airi…
The thought of the girl rang through her head again like a bell both pleasant and noisome. For the longest time she was nearly the only thing Maimi could think about, ever since that moment in the bath. She tried her best to distract herself, especially once Airi joined up with the enemies of the school, but when she had been kissed that time on the street and again in this room… she was helpless but to give in.
Well, that was until the girl tried to kill her at least.
She did try to kill her, right? Surely Airi was the only one that would have managed to knock her out so easily, and the burn mark below her chest was a testament to something only one like her could do. Natsuyaki obviously couldn’t have done it, especially since she was nearly beaten. Plus, Airi had tried to rip her soul out before, hadn’t she? Why would it be so hard to think she’d finish her dirty work?
But then… why the kisses and the love I swear I saw in her eyes from the first time we met in this place?
Again, this was something she wasn’t going to understand just lying here, so she tried a final time to move. Finally she succeeded, and stepped wobbily toward the door, wondering how long she’d been asleep. She turned the knob carefully, not wanting to alert anyone unnecessarily to her presence, but there was no one outside. She heard muffled voices down the hall as if another of the rooms was occupied, but no one seemed to recognize her presence, or care. Or perhaps they didn’t think she would wake up. Yeah, they most definitely did not win.
As she walked silently down the hall, supporting herself slightly with a hand on the wall, she cast an automatic glance out a window before doing a double-take. This house was built atop a hill, but despite that, there was still water flooding the sides of the streets – not quite enough to stop traffic from going by, but enough to make it not fun to traverse she imagined.
However, there was no traffic to be seen. Instead, tents lined the dry middle portion of the street, and even some of the surrounding yards. Outside the wrought-iron fence surrounding Airi’s house a few people stood silently with their hands crossed before them, gazing toward the door with calm expectation as if what was beyond was eagerly awaited yet not expected in the slightest.
Maimi now was becoming quite troubled. What had she gotten herself into? She supposed she could get herself out of whatever it was, but if what her eyes saw was any indication, things had changed more than she could have imagined. She clung to one hope – she had to find Saki or Ai-chan. Surely if she was here, they had to be also… They had to be…
Sneaking silently past a slightly opened door within which a few girls were talking as if trying to keep from being bored, she noticed that she didn’t recognize them from the Circle’s ranks. Hopes fading of a victory of theirs somehow being attained against all odds, she continued walking until she reached some stairs, then carefully headed down them, holding her stomach as she went. The movement of descending the stairs caused her injury to tighten up and hurt a bit more. Upon reaching the bottom though, she became able to hear from a close-by room one of the voices she’d been searching for.
“…don’t know why you put up with it,” Ai said, though with not much force behind it. “I know most everywhere is still flooded, but we can’t even leave the house! If not for your parents’ willingness to put up with it since nobody recognizes them, we’d barely have any food, especially to support all of us.”
The next voice that spoke up made Maimi stop in her tracks and her heart leap into her throat. “It’s ridiculous I know, but they’re just people trying to cling to some kind of hope… Anyway, isn’t the alternative more ridiculous? Exactly why do you expect us to not feel incredibly uncomfortable there? The idea is just… is just… it’s ludicrous!” Maimi still didn’t know what was going on, but at least Airi was still around… She didn’t know if she could forgive the girl for… all... that she did, but she still felt this thrill of excitement just hearing her voice again. That was what was really ludicrous, wasn’t it? The next person to speak up dampened her excitement considerably though once again.
“It’s so much fun listening to the two of you talk…” Natsuyaki said, sounding half bored and half mock irritated. “I feel like I only understand every other word. How did I ever go out with such a geek?”
“Oh stop it,” Airi responded, sounding genuinely irritated, though still in a warm sense. That bit of warmth though made Maimi tighten her fists. “You’re as smart as the rest of us, and sometimes I wonder if not even much more so. Don’t think that badass yankii attitude works on me! I know you too well…” Maimi was clenching her fists so tightly now it felt like her fingernails dug into her palms.
“You’re damn right I wouldn’t show the first glimmer of actually caring about something like school! I’ve a reputation to uphold, y’know.” She paused a moment before going on, “By the way, we have a visitor listening outside the door.”
Maimi’s breath caught. Damn it, she forgot the girl could read minds or some such similarly incomprehensible thing. It really was a bit scary what happened out in that field, that the girl could hold her own against both her and Ai. She wondered if she might even have become nearly as powerful as Saki.
Almost immediately she heard a chair slide across the floor from within the room and footsteps come hurriedly toward her, and the next thing she knew she was looking into the face of her angel and smiling dumbly… Wait, what was she doing? She definitely did not like this girl right now!
“Maimi!” Airi said with a beaming smile. She really was so beautiful… as beautiful as the shining sun. Then the girl laid a hand on her stomach, and she recoiled slightly at the tenderness of the skin below it. “How are you doing? You’ve been out for days… I swear, if I haven’t scolded Reina enough already, but she’s so stubborn…” Her lips curled up in a pout as her eyes became distant, apparently imagining more such scoldings. Maimi smiled. That was something she’d dearly like to see.
“It hurts,” she responded simply, staring into the younger girl’s face. Then she narrowed her eyes. “And what’s this talk about Tanaka? It’s you I have to thank for this, isn’t it?”
Airi’s face lowered in a blush. “As for that… well…” she stuttered.
“So are you going to bring our new arrival in here, or will you make us get out of our chairs and come after you to squeeze into the hallway?” Ai called from the room. “I’m sure she has a lot of questions after all…”
“Oh,” Airi said, blushing further. “Right. Come on,” she said, reaching for Maimi’s wrist, but Maimi pulled away quickly, inciting a questioning glance from the other girl.
“Why should I trust you to lead me in there?” she asked. “Last I remember you tried to kill me. Or did you forget already?”
Airi stared at her, pain floating across her eyes. “I didn’t…” she began in an uncharacteristic weak voice, but somehow couldn’t continue, and hurriedly brushed past her to walk up the stairs.
“You didn’t just make her cry, did you Maimi?” Ai called again in a somewhat scolding voice. “You idiot. Just get in here.”
“Now that’s more my type of language…” Natsuyaki commented, and Maimi thought she could almost hear the grin on her face.
She didn’t know why, but she found her feet moving to carry her toward the room. She didn’t like her present situation one bit, but what options did she have? From the sound of things, she feared she knew the result of what happened in the meadow, and whether that was true or not, Ai was the only person she knew she could count on… She could still… right?
Entering the room, she saw Ai sitting on a chair with Risa seated as well next to her, even though she hadn’t heard her speak yet. “Good morning!” the girl said brightly now though. She took special notice of the way the two girls held each other’s hands. And across from them…
Natsuyaki considered her warily from her own seat, though she looked quite relaxed otherwise. Why wouldn’t she? She apparently got what she wanted after all… All that she wanted, Maimi thought with a glower, and she felt her hands eager to clench again. Still, Maimi felt like the girl was looking at her like a fox considering the rabbit it was about to pounce on. She wondered if she could not still switch roles and become the fox instead. A memory of the meadow reminded her that was not very likely, at least unless Ai took her side. However, both former Nakazawa girls looked like they were about to do no such thing.
“Well you’re not trying to zap me with lightning or some crap,” Natsuyaki said roughly after a moment, letting up in her scrutiny of Maimi. “That’s a good start.”
“That’s my area, remember?” Ai said, grinning evilly at her.
“Oh yeah,” Natsuyaki said, rubbing her own stomach as if it too carried scars of just such an encounter. Somehow Maimi thought the girl hadn’t made any mistake at all… at least one that she hadn’t intended to. She thought Airi might be right. The girl was most likely much more astute than she let on. “Well either way, I’m sure she hates me much more than the girl she just drove to tears, so I think for my sanity I’ll head off to… check on Reina or something. I imagine she could use some bailing out right about now…”
Ai nodded, and Miyabi got up to leave, sweeping a bow toward Maimi. “Glad to see you back among the living,” she said in what Maimi thought was almost a sincere voice. “Though I know I’m not near as glad as someone else…” And with that, she trudged out the opposite door in what Maimi thought was a very unfeminine way.
“Damn yankiis…” she grumbled under her breath. She looked to Ai, who gestured her to a free seat, and walked slowly to take it.
She sat there a moment, trying to absorb everything that had happened since she woke, and also trying to patch together the fragments she knew of what happened before. “I imagine you’re a bit confused right now…” Ai guessed warmly, and reached her free hand to lay atop Maimi’s on the table.
“Confused?” she asked in a rather confused way in response. “No… I wouldn’t say confused…”
She continued looking back into the girl’s eyes, which seemed as strong as ever gazing into hers. “How could you?” she asked in a voice barely above a whisper. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Where’s Saki?”
A pang of regret washed across Ai’s face then, and she exchanged a glance with Risa, who nodded, before turning back to Maimi, now squeezing her hand slightly. “Saki is…” she said, her eyes moistening. Maimi didn’t like where this was going at all.
“She’s gone, isn’t she?” Maimi asked hollowly. Neither of the other girls responded, but their silence was answer enough.
Unbidden, the face of her longtime friend as a Head of Seishin, and then more, appeared in her mind… a face she’d just realized she would never see again. Memories now played in her head like films, memories of when they were both raised as Heads and how they had shared in each other’s excitement before realizing their true calling after the induction ceremony… Memories of how they became even closer not long after, and when they’d shared everything together… Memories of how the girl had become distant, and soon too distant for her to reach any longer, and when their closest bond had been severed, even though they never actually had mentioned it… Memories of how well they’d worked together in attaining the incredible positions they had, and how much she respected the girl for her role in it despite their more personal troubles, for by then… by then she’d managed to open her heart to another…
“I’m sorry Maimi… I truly am,” Ai said, her voice saturated with sympathy. “I know you two were close…”
“You have no idea…” Maimi said, realizing that tears had formed and were now cascading slowly down from her eyes. She’d known it was a very real possibility from the time they heard about her diagnosis, but this… was this even the result of it? She had looked happy when she appeared in the meadow… almost like her old self again…
Through her tears, her face set in grim commitment. “She did it, didn’t she?” she asked quietly. She was the only one who could have possibly bested her, and so she knew how it had to have happened. She felt at her stomach. Airi may have missed her chance at her, but she apparently hadn’t with the other girl Maimi had once loved…
Ai looked at her curiously for a moment at first as if she didn’t understand, but then her eyes widened and she spoke quickly, “No! She… I think she actually saved her just at the last possible moment, Maimi. Just like I think she might have saved me too… and you…”
“You and I?” Maimi asked, her voice strengthening. “Then why are you and I sitting here talking still, while she’s probably in the ground somewhere?!” She was beginning to get loud, but she didn’t care. She felt her body heat with her power. She didn’t care anymore what the result was, but she had to do her best to avenge Saki… she owed her at the very least that much.
“Maimi!” Ai said, now straightening up and speaking in a much more confident voice like the great leader she had become before all of this. “You know as well as I do she was overconfident in her abilities. She wasn’t a god – neither are you, and neither am I. I saw what happened. Airi did do something to her, yes, but after that I saw a Saki I had never known before – one that enjoyed the life she was about to lose all too early, and appreciated that there might be a greater purpose in it. I obviously don’t know everything about the two of you, but if I’m not mistaken, that’s the Saki you’re remembering too, isn’t it?”
Maimi continued clenching her fist tightly under the other girl’s hand, but her mind suddenly became full of the pain she felt at losing her best friend, no matter how… no matter how she’d been lately…
Suddenly her body slackened as she felt all the strength leave it, and she slouched in her chair, the tears flowing freely once again. “Why…?” she asked, not expecting a response in the least. “She was my best friend… No matter how things turned out, that’s who she was…”
After a moment Ai’s hand closed atop hers again. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand. I wonder how much any of us really understood her, but I think you did the most of anyone. She may not have shown it often, but I’m sure she appreciated all you’ve been through together as well. I think she was just helpless under the influence of forces beyond her control.”
Maimi looked up at her, raising a hand to wipe the wetness from her cheek as she tried to control herself. “Is that what the future holds for you and me too?” she asked. “Complete loss of control over our own lives until we’re freed by death?” She stared hard at the girl. “I’m only sixteen, Ai-chan…”
Ai gave her an intense look after her weighty questions. “First of all, I swear to you Saki was free before she died. Do you wonder why I sit here in this house holding counsel with those who we fought our hardest against just not so long ago? I saw something out in that garden… something I don’t think I fully understand… but what I do understand now is that Airi Suzuki was right all along.
“Do you remember back at Seishin when she confronted us and attacked you, and you felt as if your soul was being torn apart?” Maimi nodded slowly. That’s an experience she would never quite forget, no matter how things might be capable of changing with the girl.
“Well, it was,” Ai continued. “There is something… was something… inside us, influencing us, empowering us, until the Headmaster performed his final act, when it joined with us. Its influence on us stayed though… On me to an extent, though I think I’m old enough and was independent-minded enough to where I could still fight against it. On you as well, but I think it’s affected you in a slightly different way. I think in your case, your feelings for Airi may be fighting against it, but it’s a hard battle… And on Saki…
“Do you know what I really think? We carry some essence of the Founders of Seishin within us, through heritage or else, and so are affected by their spirits… Nakazawa’s is strong, but is also kind and open-minded, allowing me to keep my own opinions. Matsuura’s is fiery, quick to anger, but capable of immense love in her heart. However, Goto…” She paused a moment. “Her power was the darkest, and capable of instilling the most fear. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be her, or even to be influenced by her as Saki must have, but no matter where her heart was, that power must have been terrible to wield.”
She paused finally, Maimi looking at her as her tears began to dry after she’d finally stopped crying. “You really should have been the leader the whole time, you know that?” Maimi said quietly. “You’re so capable… and incredibly intelligent… I couldn’t have imagined all of that if I thought about it for a hundred years.”
Ai waved a hand dismissively in front of her face, and even gave a small smile for the first time since telling Maimi the news. “Not at all. You just haven’t been sitting here talking with Airi, Miyabi and Reina the last few days. It was only by putting all our knowledge and guesses together that we were able to come up with it. Much more, too… but that’s not what I’m concerned with right now.”
“Listen to her, Maimi,” Risa implored. “She knows what she’s talking about.” Maimi glanced at the other girl at Ai’s side who looked as concerned about her as her friend was. Everyone was worried about her today… They had no need though. She could take care of herself.
Maimi coughed a small laugh of her own at that while wiping away some more tears. “Right. Like you’d say anything different about her, would you?” She knew that wasn’t true of course; since she’d joined their small group she’d realized how intelligent the other girl was as well, and that she wouldn’t just blindly agree with someone, even someone like Ai.
Ai squeezed Maimi’s hand again. “All I’m concerned about right now is you,” she said genuinely, affirming Maimi’s thoughts.
Sniffing again in an effort to prevent more tears, she also tried to clear her mind, and something her comrade had said finally fully sank into her. “So you’ve thrown in your lot with them, huh?” she asked, looking up at the two girls across from her through her eyelashes. “You all brought me here to this house… to her house… and you’ve been all buddy-buddy. If what you say is right we haven’t been in control of our actions. I like to think I’m a little more independent than that…”
Ai’s face turned somewhat grim again. “It’s over, Maimi,” she said. “Believe me and the others as you will, but things have changed. The times have changed.” She glanced toward a window and nodded her head, Risa nodding shortly after as well. “Have you seen those people outside yet?”
“Yeah,” Maimi said, trying to appear unconcerned. “The streets still looked flooded – good job by the way – so they must have just been camping out on the high ground up here since their houses are probably ruined.” Despite her praise for Ai’s storm, the thought of likely thousands upon thousands of people rendered homeless still got to her a little bit. After all, she had wanted to rule, but what good was that if there was nothing worth ruling? Yet, that wasn’t the only reason it got to her…
Ai shook her head. “While it’s true that many houses are ruined, that’s not why those people are camped on this particular hill. They’re here because of this house.”
Maimi stared off toward the window as well, even though it wasn’t in the right direction to see the crowd outside. Yes, she remembered that some people were staring toward the house. Why would they do that if they were just trying to get by? “But… why would they be interested in this place? There’s nothing special about it.”
“We’re here,” Ai responded simply, and shuffled through some papers on the table before pulling out a copy of the Yomiuri Shimbun and sliding it toward Maimi. Then, oddly, she coughed a chuckle. “Despite all the flooding, somehow the papers still managed to print. Nothing’s going to stop the businesses from moving on.”
Maimi almost didn’t want to look at the proffered paper, but after a moment held her breath and looked down. The entire front page was of one theme, a main story and its supporting details. There was a small picture of the emperor at a microphone, and the headline proclaimed, “From Myth into Reality – The Gods Are Among Us” The supporting stories included headlines such as “Thousands Flock to Shrines Across the Country,” “Storm of the Ages – Just Part of a Battle of Gods?”, and “Unidentified Schoolgirls Seen Leaving Imperial Palace Grounds” . In a small corner was a blurb for an article deeper within the pages – “The UN, while wary of suddenly rising Japanese nationalism, sends gratefully accepted aid from all able members.”
Maimi nearly could not help herself from staring at the words on the page. It was one thing rising through the government and secretly acquiring the reins of power, but seeing a national newspaper written about nothing other than events she was tightly entwined in was nerve rattling. “But…” she said, her mind quickly becoming blank, “It says nothing here about us really aside from some randomness about schoolgirls. That doesn’t explain the people outside right now.”
Ai gave a small, knowing smile. “This was from the first day after,” she explained. “In the days since, those intrepid journalists managed to track down exactly who those ‘unidentified schoolgirls’ were, as well as more of the story in general, and… Well, you can see some of the results,” she finished, gesturing vaguely, yet her point was obvious. She exchanged a glance with Risa. “For a while we had nearly an endless stream of reporters looking for the full scoop so to speak, to where we nearly boarded up the door. Once the others started coming though, the presumptive holiness of the place kept it fairly quiet here. Well, for the most part…” Risa nodded with long-suffering raised eyebrows in affirmation.
“Holiness…?” Maimi repeated, but the slam of a door from the front of the house distracted their attention.
“The parents are here!” someone called, followed by the sound of many footsteps from the front of the house, and Maimi began to wonder how many people were actually here.
“Oh brother…” came a voice from the doorway, and Maimi glanced up to see Natsuyaki slink in with eyes flickering as if looking for something. “I know Ai-chan doesn’t cause we’ve been through it before, but do you have some kind of power that would make people unable to find me?”
Maimi stared blandly back at the girl. “I could incinerate you where you stand,” she offered casually. “Nobody would be able to find you then.” Natsuyaki gave her a level look, to which she just shrugged in response and broke the eye contact. “Isn’t that more your department anyway? You’re the all-powerful one after all.”
“Well, see…” Natsuyaki said, as if she’d had to explain this many times, “It just wouldn’t be proper to hide myself, would it? Then it would be obvious I’m trying to avoid them. If someone else did it then it’s not really my fault, is it?”
Trying not to think too hard about the girl’s incomprehensible logic, Maimi rose. “Excuse me,” she said, with a look to Ai that said she was still only willing to go so far. “I suddenly realize that I’m still tired, and so should go back to my room and recover some more.”
Before she could move though, another girl burst in through the door across the room and looked frantically around as well before her eyes settled on Natsuyaki, who looked like a sitting duck, and she gave a long sigh. “There’s no helping it, is there?” Tanaka asked.
“I’m afraid not,” Natsuyaki replied.
“We have to face them…” Tanaka continued.
“I suppose it might not be too bad if they bring more food…” Natsuyaki said in her turn once again.
“I don’t see how Airi handles it,” Reina grumbled. “And other people have even dealt with it their whole lives!” she exclaimed, giving Ai and Maimi impressed glances. However, after her eyes fell on Maimi she also blinked as if just realizing the girl’s presence. “Oh, our sleeping beauty has finally awoken, huh?” she said with what Maimi thought of as a lecherous grin. Damn yankiis… she sighed again.
“Excuse me…” she began again, but was now interrupted by several adults making their way into the room.
“There you are!” one mother said upon noticing Natsuyaki, who suddenly shrank several sizes. Both her and the man with her, who Maimi supposed was Natsuyaki’s father, made their way over to the girl and hugged her tightly. “Have you been feeling well?” she asked worriedly, feeling her forehead.
Another pair had also moved toward Tanaka. “I really think you should reconsider letting us stay here…” the woman who was apparently her mother said. “I don’t trust all those people outside. There was one I swear was giving me a funny look the whole time I was walking up the driveway!” she explained exasperatedly, fanning herself ferociously. “Then again, I suppose given the circumstances…”
“I’ve told you before, Mom,” Tanaka said in what was nearly a whining voice, “There’s totally not even room for all of us here, much less groups of adults!”
“Are you certain all you girls should really be staying here?” her mother tried again, but still to no avail.
“They wouldn’t leave even if we wanted them to,” the girl responded, in what Maimi thought was a great impression of feigned helplessness.
“And besides,” Ai chipped in with a grin of her own. “Up until this point our parents still don’t know where we are. Do you think we want that to change?”
“Where’s Airi?” another couple said as Tanaka and Natsuyaki’s parents gaped aghast at Ai, but at this point Maimi took her opportunity to slip out the door… only to run into another girl, but this one was a more welcome face, if just out of surprise at the first moment.
She blinked as she stared at the girl in front of her. “Most of us thought you were dead…” she said, with sudden recognition.
The other girl smiled brightly. “Worse,” Chinami responded. “Or, at least, before the other day you guys would have thought it was worse… They ‘captured’ me and took me in.”
“Well I’m glad to see you back…” Maimi responded a bit shakily, moving to brush past the girl. Took her in… The girl didn’t show signs of torture or even mistreatment… Her smile seemed even brighter than it was before. Was this the real truth she had been somehow shielding herself from before?
Before she could get past though, a hand clutching at her arm brought her to a halt. “Please give them a chance,” Chinami urged her, her face rife with sincerity. “Despite what they might have done before, they’re really good people, and…” She began looking slightly nervous. “…and I trust them more than any others.”
Maimi stared into the other girl’s face a moment. She had been one of their most loyal supporters before, but now claimed to be at least as sincere toward those they had fought against. She had to get away. She had to get some time to think… “Excuse me,” she said abruptly, and pulled away from the girl’s grip to successfully brush past her.
“Things have changed, Maimi!” Chinami called after her. They certainly had, and she needed to take some time to reflect on them. Time away from… from… who? Away from Ai? From Chinami? Aside from friends like those, who did she have any more? She was beginning to feel that despite whatever decision she might eventually come to, she would have no choice.
“I don’t want to be alone…” she scolded at the power boiling inside of her, since if she let it free the best she could achieve would likely be just that. She ran up the stairs back toward the room she woke in. Something was inside of her – the spirit of an ancient witch, Ai had implied? – certainly no goddess. Whatever it was, she still had to come to grips with it before she could go on like this. She wished it was as easy for her as it was for the older girl.
After attaining the top of the stairs, she let out a small grunt as she ran into someone and fell back slightly, and she looked up into a face that seemed carefully wiped dry of tears, though it was still obvious they had been there.
Her face…
…
“It seems like that one is not going to make any trouble after all,” a girl said softly in Chinese as she closed the door she had been peeking out of.
“I wonder if that’s really for the best?” a younger girl responded in the same language, gazing out the frosted window. “The country’s already gathering around them, and if they step out of the picture there’s no one else here to impede on their rise.”
“You forget,” the older reprimanded sarcastically, “They don’t want to rise to anywhere.”
LinLin sighed, not looking away from the window. “I’m afraid they will come to have no choice. The power of the masses will supersede that of any individual, no matter how remarkable that individual may be.”
JunJun grinned as she came up to her comrade and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Ahh, one of the most basic lessons is strangely one of most useful, even in an extreme case like this… no?”
“As you say… senpai,” LinLin responded with a grin of her own, using the Japanese term for what she supposed their relationship was. The other girl was indeed older than her, but they had been trained since nearly the same year, she herself starting when she had barely begun her fifth.
The grin faded quickly though as she turned back to the window. “Still, I wish things weren’t as they are…” She turned pleadingly back to her comrade, and her friend. “I like them, Chun.”
When all this started, they had no idea where it would lead, so the two of them had taken on the leadership roles that were natural given the years upon years of training that had molded them so well. Even so, they tried their best not to appear too outstanding, and so used only the smallest fraction of their abilities, and none of what made them truly exceptional. Now though, things had changed, and LinLin had the feeling they would perhaps be put to the test as never before.
Her ears perked up as she sensed multiple people walking down the hall toward them, whereas an average person wouldn’t have even noticed until they actually entered the room. When they did, JunJun responded to her in a gentle voice, “I do too, dear Lin… but if they are truly the Old Blood, our time to serve our country and people has come, if rather sooner than either of us had anticipated…”
“Ni hao~!” Michishige said cutely when she heard them speaking Chinese. The other girls let no opportunity slip by to practice their language skills as long as they were boarded up in this house. After all, what else was there really to do?
“I can speak Chinese!” Kamei followed in very slow tones as well, though this time LinLin only noticed one pitch error.
“Very good!” JunJun praised them, still in her native tongue, and the two girls beamed.
The two others smiled at each other. Despite the girl’s words, they had no worry that the two had any idea what the last thing was that JunJun had said. Sometimes there were definite advantages to having what in this situation was basically a secret language for the two of them… if one that over a billion people elsewhere would understand easily… a billion people that it at the moment fell to the two of them to assure of their safety.
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:bingo: first of all.....YAY! i've been waiting for this........
wow! the story did progressed in a somewhat little confusing way.....Maimi is so cute :nya:....struggling with her own feelings towards airi......
know what, i'd like to see maimi and miya become the best of friends....hahaha :on cigar:
Matte kudasai......where's rii-chan??? :on voodoo:
can you feature risako and miya next chappie???
thanks author-san.......anata wa saigo! :on thumbb:
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This prologue made my evening :D
So not too much has changed huh? I actually imagined that the sequel would take some months after the ending, but in my opinion it's easier to explain all that was left hanging closer to these events then the future... Did that make sense? I confused myself trying to write that at first I'm excited for the new plot and character developments. I can see Maimi and Miyabi becoming friends, but sort of in that love-hate sort of way :lol:
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I thought this was an entirely different story, but then I remembered about the sequel... and here it is!
Interesting to see a chapter that focus on Maimi, because while things are being explained to her, they are also being explained to us :lol: Hope she forgives Airi, though.
Oh, that last bit talked a lot about Junjun and Linlin, but I still wanna know their parts on all of this...
Keep it up!
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Man, I had to re-read the final chapter of CoT to remind myself of what happened to everyone. :P
Looks like we've got another epic fic to look forward to. :thumbsup
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Extrañe mucho sus escritos. :cry:
The Sword is a sword of Maimi? :onionwhip:
hehehehe.
It gives me enormous pleasure to know you Rokun continue with what we left unfinished in the previous saga. :glasses:
but here ... :bingo:
I see the characters more mature. :smoke:
That's nice. :hee:
It is also nice to see what happened after the final battle. :mon zoom:
Maimi as it remained asleep. :sleep:
It's nice to see Maimi wake up and read each line of your story and see how acting Maimi and will be feeling after leaving their deep sleep.
Thank you, thanks. :hee:
Well ...
I have many doubts.
I told you earlier.
And even I still have.
I hope that you will soon dissipate my doubts advance its story line, I sense that it will be excellent, clear and this time if a conclusion clear.
I will be frank and clear.
One of my dreams is to see Maimi happy.
And also I sense that it will be a great and excellent and exciting story !!!!!
Welcome back !!!!!!!
Please be perceverante me!!
And have patience with me! Estimated Rokun!!
Maimi woke to a headache that felt as if it would split her head open at any moment.
:dizzy: Yes!
I understand Maimi.
I understand perfectly.
“Where am I…?” she asked no one in particular as she dared enough to roll her head to look around and find no one else in the room and only a plain door closed at its entrance. “I have to get up…”
So it is! You have to get up! :mon blowhorn: :mon yeah:
see the sun and its airi and friends! :mon yeah: :mon blowhorn:
Although the truth is cruel! :mon hanky:
She slid her hands down her body to see what kind of clothes she was wearing – it felt like it was a dress of some expensive material, but seemed torn and tattered in spots. Was I in a fight…? she thought.
Yes...
You were in a big fight ...
A great battle ...
With large gatherings and you Maimi, you obtained an unforgettable mark that battle ...
Feeling a stinging sensation below her chest,
:mon ignore:............
she unbuttoned her dress slightly to check it out,
:mon ignore:............
and found skin that seemed burned and slightly scarred. What could have caused that? It was like she had been on fire…
:mon emo:
“Airi…” she growled, tenderly running a finger along the circular patch of skin.
Yes...
She... Airi... :mon ignore:
The girl she’d loved, the girl who had somehow as if out of her wildest dreams undergone an apparent change of heart and loved her back, or at least seemed to…
:mon cute: :mon cry:
The girl that nearly killed her…
Do not speak that way Maimi ...
In part, you have reason to feel that way and that way of thinking of Airi ...
but it is always complicated reasons, Airi always act in a complicated manner.
Airi wanted that you to avoid more suffering Maimi.
or maybe wanted to stop their suffering Maimi but ...
Airi forgotten or decided prolong his pain maimi. :mon cry: :mon emo:
But then… why the kisses and the love I swear I saw in her eyes from the first time we met in this place?
because Airi loves you really.
Airi loves you truly Maimi.
it did what had to do with great pain.
Airi did not want to lose to you Maimi and Airi knew that you would not allow to finish with the life of Saki.
Airi knew that Saki might no have salvation...
Almost immediately she heard a chair slide across the floor from within the room and footsteps come hurriedly toward her, and the next thing she knew she was looking into the face of her angel and smiling dumbly… Wait, what was she doing? She definitely did not like this girl right now!
KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mon inluv: :mon inluv: :mon inluv:
“Maimi!” Airi said with a beaming smile. She really was so beautiful… as beautiful as the shining sun.
Kawaiii Airi!!! :mon inluv:
Then the girl laid a hand on her stomach, and she recoiled slightly at the tenderness of the skin below it.
Airi???? You did that? :mon lurk:
Airi? :mon lurk:
“How are you doing? You’ve been out for days… I swear, if I haven’t scolded Reina enough already, but she’s so stubborn…” Her lips curled up in a pout as her eyes became distant, apparently imagining more such scoldings.
Why that Airi has scolded to Tanaka?
Will it be because Tanaka was making use to touch Maimi, when Maimi was hurt? :mon geek: :mon determined:
And was Tanaka treating the wound of Maimi? :mon heh:
And was Tanaka taking advantage of that? :mon lol:
I hope that he should explain to me this detail Rokun. :mon sweat:
“It hurts,” she responded simply, staring into the younger girl’s face. Then she narrowed her eyes. “And what’s this talk about Tanaka? It’s you I have to thank for this, isn’t it?”
I also have the same question and doubt.
Rokun please respond. :mon sweat:
“So are you going to bring our new arrival in here, or will you make us get out of our chairs and come after you to squeeze into the hallway?” Ai called from the room. “I’m sure she has a lot of questions after all…”
Ai-chan... Ai-chan...
You interrupted the moment ...
There is Ai-chan. :mon whine: :mon exhaust:
“Oh,” Airi said, blushing further.
:mon innocent:
:heart: but Maimi pulled away quickly, inciting a questioning glance from the other girl.
Ouch, and there are going to conflict and the complicated nature of the love of Airi and Maimi. :mon wind: :mon sweat: :mon ignore:
“Why should I trust you to lead me in there?” she asked. “Last I remember you tried to kill me. Or did you forget already?”
Ouch Airi and that should hurt a lot!
Poor airi but ...
I had that happen!
I gotta go!
I then continue!
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WOOHOO! SEQUEL!!!! :muffin: First chapter was good!I enjoyed it like I did with the last one. :)
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Yes!!! New story!!! :muffin: I'm really liking the apprehension Maimi is having, even though that sounds weird. It seems perfect for her character. I think it's great that they are coming together because I need all my girls together!! Personally, I'm more of a MiyaAiri person but I can't help but feel sympathetic to Maimi's broken-ish heart. Uh oh, what are Jun Jun and Lin Lin up to? :?
Great to have you back with another epic story~! I know it will be great!
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Well.
Hey again!
It will be very interesting to see the epic of romance and love of airi and Maimi.
It is not a romance easy to understand.
Apart is not just sweetness.
It is too interesting to see this pair Maimi and Airi.
The love of Maimi and Airi is full of passion and pain.
Despite problems, conflicts. Your love will be stronger and also have the passion.
And I definitely love the character mature, serious, strong and sure Maimi and also have the passion !!
And airi is sweet, mature and also have the passion. :mon lovelaff: :mon lovelaff: :mon cam: :mon cam: :mon dance: :mon dance: :mon love: :mon roll: :gmon heartu: :gmon love2:
I always prefer to Maimi and Airi as a couple of love!
Always up to the end!
Always!!!!
:gmon twirl: :gmon love2: :gmon flowers: :mon kissy: :mon loveflower:
Airi stared at her, pain floating across her eyes. “I didn’t…” she began in an uncharacteristic weak voice, but somehow couldn’t continue, and hurriedly brushed past her to walk up the stairs.
I feel sad for Airi ...
but it was logical that Maimi you was not going to resivir with the open arms to Airi.
What will be the reaction of Maimi when she finds out that Airi murderer to your best friend?
And after that ...
What will be the reaction of Maimi when Maimi see face to face to Airi?[/color]
“You didn’t just make her cry, did you Maimi?” Ai called again in a somewhat scolding voice. “You idiot. Just get in here.”
:doh: :sweatdrop:
Ai-chan sounded like Tanaka yankiis ... :doh: :sweatdrop:
“I don’t see how Airi handles it,” Reina grumbled. “And other people have even dealt with it their whole lives!” she exclaimed, giving Ai and Maimi impressed glances.
Airi has a lot of patience has a lot of patience ...
something that you Tanaka seem to have no ...
However, after her eyes fell on Maimi she also blinked as if just realizing the girl’s presence. “Oh, our sleeping beauty has finally awoken, huh?” she said with what Maimi thought of as a lecherous grin. Damn yankiis… she sighed again.
Yes! Maimi has already been awakened.
You Tanaka no longer can touch to Maimi it while you sleep hohohoho ...
hhohohohoho Tanaka
“Things have changed, Maimi!” Chinami called after her.
[/color][/u][/b]
Yes!!!!
Things have changed! :smoke: :whistle:
is the peace! :cool1: :stuffed:
They certainly had, and she needed to take some time to reflect on them.
[/color][/u]
So it is!
You have to think much, and think of a relaxed way :bath: !!!!!! and be quiet! :bath: :onionshower:
Time away from… from… who? Away from Ai? From Chinami? Aside from friends like those, who did she have any more? She was beginning to feel that despite whatever decision she might eventually come to, she would have no choice.
Or maybe ...
Away from Airi? :mon cry: :mon cute:
“I don’t want to be alone…” she scolded
[/color][/s]
I do not want these alone Maimi!
I do not want it! :frustrated: :fainted:
After attaining the top of the stairs, she let out a small grunt as she ran into someone and fell back slightly, and she looked up into a face that seemed carefully wiped dry of tears, though it was still obvious they had been there.
Her face…
That person is Airi? :mon cute: :mon cry:
Airi is for Maimi and Maimi is for Airi. :mon inluv: :mon inluv: :mon inluv:
Maimi this wound of the heart that's sad ...
Also it is sad to no longer have your best friend. Saki Shimizu.
It is understood the pain he feels.
I think the romance of Airi and Maimi is the best love story I've read in my entire life. (No exaggeration) is an love epic.
There are several fun things, too.
One is ai-chan sounding like yanke hehehe.
In part that scolds to Maimi.
Miyabi was overly funny !!!!! starts enjoyable.
Risako special girl she is.
I hope that Risako have more participation.
I am curious because it chose that title for his story.
I am also curious to know more about their history.
If someone sees the anime of D.Gray-Man.
The friendship of Miyabi and Maimi reminds me of Allen Walker and Yu Kanda.
Of course it depends whether Maimi and Miyabi are best friends.
but ...
Now I think Maimi and Miyabi not hate each other.
Also I think Airi suffer in this saga.
Airi loves to Maimi and I think that airi not ready to lose to Maimi.
and Yuka?
Yuka and Momoko?
Momoko What was the reaction of it to learn of the death of Saki Shimizu? I think that these two were a bit close.
Even if you never let something clear, if there was a relationship between Momoko and Saki.
Yuka even imagine that loves Maimi. and there arise problems and jealousy ...
Airi battle between Yuka, for the love of Maimi.
So Maimi and Ai still have those spirits within them.
Ai has at least to Niigaki to fight this evil spirit that is inside her.
but ...
Maimi this confused and hurt.
Maybe at the beginning is hard for her.
but ...
I believe a lot in Maimi, and she is strong and will expire on that spirit malignant.
“Do you know what I really think? We carry some essence of the Founders of Seishin within us, through heritage or else, and so are affected by their spirits… Nakazawa’s is strong, but is also kind and open-minded, allowing me to keep my own opinions. Matsuura’s is fiery, quick to anger, but capable of immense love in her heart. However, Goto…” She paused a moment. “Her power was the darkest, and capable of instilling the most fear. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be her, or even to be influenced by her as Saki must have, but no matter where her heart was, that power must have been terrible to wield.”
That part is too interesting!
Perhaps that could be ...
Maimi is Aya.
Ai is Nakazawa.
y. ..
Saki is Goto.
I hope that this will explain more.
Aya is one of my favorites of the Hello! Project!
Maimi Yajima,Ai Takahashi, Aya Matsuura and Miki Fujimoto are my favorite of all the H! P!
Maki also was one of my favorites but no longer is in the H! P. ..
but still remains one of my favorite Maki Goto! although that is not in the H! P.
I'm sorry, forgiveness for the off topic!
I am intrigued JunJun and LINLIN
Perhaps they will be the villains?
Next chapter please!
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Poor Maimi. She must be really down about what happened.
And what are those Pandas up to?
I hope this sequel will be awesome. Good luck
-
ONI-CHAN!!!!
Next chapter please!
GambarE! Oni-chan!!
GambarE!!
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It has been 17 days since the last post. XD
I hope soon to see the next chapter. :wub: :)
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next chapter!!!!....... ......................................................
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Konnichiwa!!
I posted in the VOTE Thread about your Fanfic, but I have been thinking that "it's better if I post in the Story Thread". And, well, I am here, :D.
It's very interesting and, now, I'm very anxious for reading more.The love between Airi and Maimi rules!! :inlove: Please, continue soon.
While I'm waiting, I am reading the other fanfic, The Circle of Three, because, if this is its sequel, I must read it, ;).
See you, Ganbarimasu~!
PD: Sorry for my English... :(
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All right, so I finally decided to get my ass in gear and try to post something here (even though I should be doing other stuff, like homework :P). I wanted to reply to at least some of your comments...
First of all, thank you for your interest in the new story. ^_^ I hope you all enjoy it as it (hopefully lol) goes along! We'll see how bad my English gets while I stay in Japan here... haha.
Anyway, first of all:
Maimi_Yajima, etc: You seemed a bit concerned about Maimi's injury and the role Reina and Airi played in regard to it. In the final battle of Circle of Three, Airi used her power to knock Maimi out, which was her "sunbeam" type power - causing the burn on her chest. Afterward, when the battle was over, Reina went around to heal everyone, but remember she said she wouldn't heal Maimi the whole way as somewhat of a "punishment" for what she'd done (that's Reina for you). That's what Airi scolded her about so much. Reina could easily heal Maimi's scar etc. the whole way to where it would look like nothing was wrong, but she won't because she thinks Maimi deserves it. Airi thinks otherwise. Hence the scolding. :P
Oh, a mention about another scar while we're on the subject: You'll come to find Momoko still has her scar as well (including a missing eye). Reina could heal that as well, or at least the scar (the eye might be another matter), but Momoko doesn't let her because she wants to keep it as a reminder of what can happen when you make mistakes or some such... Momoko's an interesting person. You'll see more of her as this story unfolds. ;) More of everyone really...
Anyway!
Well, I guess there's not a whole lot to comment on yet. Maybe there will be more after this next chapter. ;) One more thing though - at least a couple of you mentioned the possibility of Miyabi and Maimi becoming good friends. That's an interesting idea, and we'll see how things go. :) Right now, as you could see from the prologue, Maimi couldn't really care less if Miyabi was incinerated into a pile of ash. XD But then again, that's how all the best friendships start, isn't it? ;)
Well, onward! Sorry it's been so long, but finally there's a new chapter to come. Stay tuned... (as if many people will read this before it's posted. :P)
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Chapter 1 – A Normal Day for a Normal Girl
Waking to the morning light, Chisato felt once again like she’d hardly slept at all. With how crowded Airi’s house was with all of them there, and more girls somehow seeming to come every day, beds were naturally quite scarce, and Chisato apparently wasn’t important enough to even take shifts with one. It was a large house with as many as four bedrooms, one containing a large bed that until they mobbed the place used to be Airi’s parents’, one other containing a nearly as large bed for guests, with smaller beds in the other two rooms, one of which belonging to Airi.
Since Maimi woke, Airi naturally slept in her bed every night, having slept in the other free bed up until that point. Considering how everyone now viewed her nobody argued with it, in fact not even letting her give it up when she once proposed the idea. Considering they were best friends, Chisato wouldn’t have minded sharing with her, but the others would have none of it. Also, since it had only been a couple days since Maimi woke, the others generally let her have the other free bed over concern for her health.
Ai and Risa, the only steady “couple” right now in the house, shared the parents’ bed, with again no one complaining that they slept there every night. The guest bed was taken by Reina and Miyabi, though Chisato heard that occasionally one or the other would have another girl there instead. Still, because she didn’t want to think about that too much, Chisato let that be as well.
All added up, that accounted for all the beds in the house, so the rest of the girls had to make do with a couple of couches and futons on the floor, the latter of which represented Chisato’s situation. At least Risako and her sister were usually there with her, so it didn’t feel too bad… aside from not being able to sleep much at least.
As she woke up, she glanced over at Risako, who was still sleeping soundly in the futon next to her. Looking around to the rest of the small space that was previously just a rarely used sitting room, she saw her sister and MaiMai still sleeping. Chinami and Yurina, the latter of which found her way to them after the battle, had already woken as well and were sitting close together, chatting in soft whispers. Chinami caught a glance at Chisato’s movement and gave her a smile and a short wave before returning to her conversation.
Closing her eyes again and feeling like groaning, Chisato decided that she might as well get up since she obviously wasn’t going to sleep any longer today. Stumbling slowly into the hallway, she headed down to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. Upon re-entering the hall she ran into Aika and Yuuka, who had been spending most of their time together since Yuuka nearly went crazy and shot them all. She and Aika shared brief “ohayo—“s, but Yuuka, still deeply ashamed by her actions, stayed quiet. Chisato would have liked to talk with Aika more often, but she too seemed more distant from the rest of them lately. Being distant from someone like Airi would be understandable, but she didn’t know why she and Risako were also included in that attitude.
Eventually everyone awoke, and they gathered for breakfast in the living room around a special table set in the middle, since the dining room was too small to support even just several of them. Still, Airi, Maimi, Miyabi, Reina and Ai were conspicuously absent, as they usually seemed to be from these meals, probably off discussing the futures of all of them or whatnot. Chisato still didn’t know what she thought of the girls who she used to think of as her best friends now firmly accepted as their leaders. She tried reminding herself that it wasn’t all by their choice – except perhaps seemingly Maimi and Ai’s – but it was little consolation.
MaiMai stared at her solitary bowl of rice almost as if it was about to spring legs and jump up at her. “Ugh…” she complained in a helpless voice. “Rice is great and all, but I really wish we had something else to eat in the mornings. Even just a bit of fish would be nice, or especially a nice omelette…” Her eyes started to adopt a dreamy gaze as if the rice was now transforming in front of her into her desired delicacy.
“I’m surprised we even have this,” Kanon said in slight amazement. “With this many of us here now, I have no idea how they manage to keep enough food around for everyone. I mean, they’re just girls after all.” At the odd stares she received after saying that, she blushed slightly and sank down into her chair. “I mean,” she defended in a much quieter voice, “It’s not like they have jobs where they get paid or something…”
“Y’know, I bet if we went up to the people outside, they’d give us money or maybe even food just for being here,” Kamei-san said in a pondering, and obviously oblivious voice.
“Eririn, don’t say such things!” Michishige-san scolded her, flicking her ear, which caused her friend to cringe. “Most of those people don’t even have homes, and you want them to give us food and money?!”
“It was only a thought…” Kamei mumbled in reply, and bent down to focus on her rice as if people would think she’d completely forgotten the subject. Chisato had learned the girl was quite good at things like that. However, her attention was still focused on Michishige, who somehow even bunched together with all the other girls in this place and first thing in the morning managed to look beautiful. Not that she thought much of it, of course. Suddenly, she felt even less enthusiastic upon remembering the gossip within the last few days that it might have been Michishige who went with Reina to bed that night Miyabi had commandeered one of the couches. Exchanging a short glance with Risako sitting next to her, who was still staring at the girl, she sighed and looked away, taking a bite of the sticky rice.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!!” a slightly flushed-looking Manoeri said as she hustled into the room, but her shoulders drooped upon seeing the neat layout of rice bowls in front of each girl. “Oh…” she breathed, looking sadly at them.
“If you want some, it’s over there in the cooker,” Yurina said, not looking up from her rice and only nudging an elbow in that direction. Manoeri walked slowly over and took a seat next to Momoko, who until then had been sitting by herself, just quietly and leisurely eating her rice.
“You know, we’d have more to eat if more people didn’t keep coming…” Anri said, not looking up herself, but after her comment the room fell silent.
“Everyone’s a refugee right now, remember?” Risako spoke up from beside Chisato. “Since we have no idea what’s to come, I think we’d be grateful for any more help, wouldn’t we?”
“That’s right, what is to come?” MaiMai said, apparently having decided to ignore her meager rice. “Last I heard my parents are fine, and I’m sure I could go home to them and have wonderful meals every day. Exactly how long do you think we’ll stay around here? I want to help, but if we just sit here…”
“The longer we wait, the more people will come,” Anri insisted once again.
“Is it really that bad that we’ve come?” Kanon said, having apparently regained some of her nerve. She now seemed to be getting a bit upset. “Do you still hate us?”
“Of course they don’t,” Chinami said, as if that would settle the matter. “Stop thinking such rubbish.”
“I don’t know…” Michishige said, and Kamei glanced up as if the comment from her friend was unexpected. “I mean, you did try to fight us.”
“It was you who were fighting against us!” Yurina protested, and Chinami laid a hand on her arm in an attempt to calm her.
“And look at the result!” Maasa said, speaking up for the first time. Chisato noticed her empty bowl and decided she must have been too focused on her rice to pay attention before. “It’s over, and we’re the ones trying to be friendly here.”
“You don’t seem too friendly to me!” Yurina said, rising from the floor and ignoring Chinami’s insistent proddings. She gestured to a softly sniffling Kanon. “Look at her. She’s nearly in tears! We came here with intentions of helping out however we could, after most of us have lost our houses if not our families, and you’re saying we’re eating all your food!”
“Just for the record, I’m not saying any such thing,” Maasa said, rubbing her stomach contentedly.
“Well I am, because you are!” Anri stated vehemently, and Chisato ducked at a flash of movement from Yurina, noticing only that a full bowl of rice went flying before a loud clang! made everyone freeze and go suddenly silent.
Eventually Chisato’s eyes followed everyone else’s just past where Manoeri was frozen with a spoonful of rice halfway to her mouth, the bowl she was eating from having toppled to the side, likely due to the heavy-looking large metal… club…? that had just been slammed onto the table next to it. Chisato even thought she saw a crack in the table beneath it.
Momoko withdrew her hand slowly from the handle, the scar trailing down from her eye patch standing out starkly beneath the shadow of her bangs. Everyone seemed to be awaiting something after the sudden action, but the girl just calmly picked up her chopsticks and resumed eating her rice quietly as if she’d done absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
“Please…” Chinami finally whimpered softly up to Yurina, whose arm she was still gripping tightly and attempting to pull on. “Sit back down…” After a moment the other girl did so, and stared at the spot where her rice bowl had been as if wondering where it went. Chisato looked around curiously, noticing Risako was too, wondering the same thing.
No sooner had Yurina sat back down though than Chinami rose herself. “Everybody, please…” she implored, “We’ve of course had our differences in the past, but things are different now. Our battle is over, and we need to come together for whatever purpose we’re meant for in the future. We’ve all experienced things that no kid should… nobody ever should in a lifetime! That gives us a bond that makes us more prepared than anyone to take the reins into the future.” Chisato noticed that most of the girls had begun eating their rice again, not all looking at Chinami, but everyone visibly focused on every word.
“It’s of course not always going to be easy…” the girl continued, “But you know what it’s like outside. Nothing is easy for anyone in this country right now. In fact, as far as I’m concerned we’re lucky to have the little we do now, don’t you think?” She looked around as if for agreement, and while there were only a couple mutters of assent, no one raised their voice to disagree – even MaiMai, who had finally begun to pick at her own rice, if slowly.
“So please…” Chinami continued again, nearly seeming in tears herself. “Don’t fight. We’re all good people, just looking to do what’s best… Let’s put our trust in Airi…” she said, looking at Chisato and Risako, who shared a glance with each other, “…in Reina…” she continued, looking at others, including Manoeri, who actually blushed. “…in Ai-chan…” she finished, looking over at Kanon, who was once again looking a bit ashamed. “They’re trying their hardest to figure out what to do from here on out, while taking care of us in the meantime.” She glanced over in Momoko’s direction. “If Momo-chan is willing to put her trust in all of them, don’t you think they deserve at least that much from the rest of us too? Would any of you like to be in the position all of them are in right now?”
Once again there was no disagreement, but this time it was Yurina who reached up to pull Chinami back down to the floor beside her with a thud. “I’m sorry,” the girl whispered to her, squeezing her arm slightly in affection. Chisato smiled at the gesture. She knew, along with everyone else, that the two of them were close, even if nothing was official yet. She believed everyone deserved intimacy like that…
Someone cleared her throat, and Yuuka spoke up in a meek voice. “It’s thanks to their parents that we have the food anyway. At least they’re trying to help.” She spoke as if the fight that nearly took place hadn’t just happened, and as if her words broke some spell, everyone seemed to suddenly relax.
“Yeah,” Maasa said, nudging Sengoku-san in the shoulder as if even though they were on opposite sides in the previous fights, they were the best of friends now. “Have you seen how they react when their parents come? It’s must-see television, it is! Sure knocks ‘em down a few pegs.”
“What knocks who down a few pegs?” Miyabi said, strolling into the room. “And what was that banging earlier?” she asked, Chisato noticing her eye stray to the heavy club on the table. “I thought we were being attacked.”
“But who would attack us?” Kanon said, smiling bashfully around at everyone. “Everyone likes us, don’t they?” Miyabi stared at her as if she just spoke a completely different language, but the rest of the girls around the table couldn’t keep smiles of their own from appearing. Chisato thought that Chinami was right – times might be tough, but they’ll get through them.
…
“Um, excuse me…” Chisato said as she opened the door to the dining room a bit later to find two girls having a conversation across the table. Reina eyed her warily as she’d done many times lately, but Miyabi just relaxed back in her chair, seemingly thankful for the interruption.
“What’s up?” the relaxed girl asked, now eyeing Reina askance as well.
“You guys were um… talking about Osuzu, weren’t you?” Chisato responded in a hesitant voice. “Something about her being stubborn?” The truth was, she didn’t much care what these two girls thought Airi was being stubborn about at the moment, though she did know her friend could give anyone a run for her money in stubbornness.
“Yeah,” Reina replied, finally seeming to relax a little. “You know the Emperor invited us to stay at the palace, right? We could have anything we wanted there… we’d be safe… if we looked out the window we wouldn’t see people staring at us all the time… not that they wouldn’t be there, they’d just be too far for us to see. You see?”
Chisato nodded her head briskly. “Of course,” she said. The girl was being paranoid as usual, not making the most literal sense… and yet even that was something that endeared her to Chisato… The truth was, she was the reason she was here. Ever since… that night… she’d tried to talk with Reina, but the girl had somehow been able to avoid her at nearly every opportunity, and now, especially with the rumors she hears… Well, if the girl didn’t like her, she wished she’d at least say so instead of seeming to drag it on without any sign whatsoever.
Miyabi nodded her head in agreement. “I can’t say I’m crazy about going to any palace either – too posh for my taste – but this place is starting to make me feel a little itchy. Don’t you think?” She raised an eyebrow curiously to Chisato.
“Um…” was all she could say in response.
“In fact,” Miyabi said, now standing up and causing Reina to jerk slightly in her seat as well. “I’m feeling a little itchy just sitting here. I think I’d better get some air. Maybe go see what some of those people outside want.” As if she’d actually do that… for all the cool impenetrable front Miyabi put on, Chisato knew she was terrified at the idea of sometime maybe having to meet those people, and she wasn’t the only one.
Still, she was thankful for Miyabi’s motion right now, as while Reina looked on with desperate eyes, she walked past Chisato and patted her shoulder with a barely audible chuckle. After she had gone, Chisato walked over and pulled up a seat next to Reina, who looked like a trapped mouse. A cute one too, Chisato thought with a small smile, but then rethought it. Nah… she thought to herself. Too sexy for a mouse… the brazenness of that thought made her blush.
“Maybe I’d better go see what Airi is up to or something too…” Reina said, but froze when Chisato caught her wrist before she could rise.
“Reina, we need to talk…” Chisato said, and scooted closer. Reina seemed to want to scoot the other way, but Chisato’s grip on her wrist prevented her from doing so. Still, when she was convinced the girl would at least not suddenly run away, she let it go slowly.
Reina donned one of those winning smiles of hers. “About what?” she asked, to all indications quite curious.
Chisato couldn’t speak right away as she was trying to rake up the courage, and when she realized that she wouldn’t succeed decided to try a less direct tack. “How have you been lately?” she asked gently and with concern. She could maybe still find out what she wanted to know…
“Busy…” Reina responded, seeming relieved by the question. She shook a finger in her direction. “You could never guess what hard work it is trying to manage all you girls in this place and make sure you’re all taken care of. And for some reason everyone looks to me for the lead. Well, and I suppose Ai-chan a bit too, but most of our girls don’t fully trust her yet…”
“Yeah, things were a little rough at breakfast this morning…” Chisato said, happy to at least be having a normal conversation with the girl.
“I heard,” Reina said with a frown and a faraway gaze. “Something about rice, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Chisato responded. “I mean, don’t you wish you had something else to eat too?”
“Nah, not really,” Reina responded, rubbing her stomach. “We don’t eat breakfast anyway.”
“You don’t?” Chisato asked. Here they had been complaining about the meager breakfast they were provided with, while the girls they accused of being idle went without eating anything… Not that she was one of the critical ones to begin with, but from that moment she decided that she wouldn’t eat breakfast from now on either, at least as long as they were still here. “Do you think we’ll be here long?” she asked quietly.
Reina sighed. “That depends. We’ve talked about a lot of options… and there’s a lot more still left to say… Ai-chan says she has some crazy idea, but won’t tell us what it is, and so she’s sequestered herself and Gaki in their bedroom for the day doing who knows what. The grin that appeared on Reina’s face afterward gave Chisato a pretty good idea of what she thought they were doing.
Not exactly wanting to follow that train of thought at the moment, Chisato commented, “It must be tough being a leader…”
“Yeah,” Reina said, and then fixed a furrowed-eyebrow gaze on her. “You know a bit of that too, don’t you? You held your own when it mattered.”
Chisato tried to prevent herself from smiling. This was going exactly the direction she wanted it to. “I did all right I guess…” she said humbly, remembering the last time she’d talked with Reina about their mutual leadership skills. Actually, it was more like it was impossible to forget. When Reina just nodded and adopted that faraway look again, she went on. “If you… I mean… you say you’re busy and all… if you ever feel like you need some help, I’m sure someone would jump in there for you. Everyone respects you so much, after all,” she finished in a rush.
“Yeah, help would be nice sometimes. Ai-chan works hard, and Miya is always good to talk to. Airi definitely talks a lot, but never seems to want to make decisions, so…” A flash seemed to go off in her eyes, and she straightened in her seat. “You’re right! I should have more help! Airi’s the main one getting us all into this in the first place – her house, her battle she won, most of the people wanna talk to her – so I should make her actually own up to it and make more important decisions! Thanks, Chisa!” she finished, rising. Chisato had been nodding all the way through Reina’s spoken train of thought, but when the girl got up as if to leave she started to become frantic. No! Not Airi! That’s not the conclusion you were supposed to draw!
Still, before she could help it Reina stood, and with a pat of thanks on Chisato’s head, strode briskly out of the room, leaving the younger girl still sitting with her mouth hanging open. “I would help you…” she said softly and meekly to no one, and laid her head on the table in resignation.
“Hey,” came a voice from the doorway, and until she registered who it belonged to Chisato felt a small burst of hope. Lifting her head from the table, she turned to see Risako walking slowly over to join her.
“I saw Reina marching out of here unusually confident. I wondered if they had actually decided on something, so thought I’d come in here to check it out, but seeing you here I guess it’s something different, ne?” She took the seat Reina just vacated next to Chisato and leaned in conspiratorially. “So was it good confident?” she asked optimistically.
“Um…” Chisato said, staring into the girl’s face. “I really don’t know…”
“I see,” Risako said, and sat back a bit. “Did you get to talk to her at least? …maybe even confess?” she asked hopefully.
Chisato started to shake her head, and responded, “Well we talked… There was definitely no confessing though…”
“Oh,” Risako responded quietly.
“Still, it was nice to just be able to talk with her. I haven’t even been able to do that in ages.”
Risako smiled. “You’re really into her, aren’t you?”
Chisato squirmed a bit uncomfortably. “I guess… I mean, aside from um… that one time… I’ve hardly even spent time with her. I’d like to get to know her though.”
Risako nodded. “You know what she’s like though… a person like that… It’s tough to love… or be loved.”
Chisato nodded too in agreement. “How about you? Anything happen with Miya since that kiss of yours?” She almost grinned at the remembrance.
This time Risako blushed slightly. “Actually, no…” she responded. “Though we have talked a bit. I’ve asked her some things. She’s definitely a different person than I ever thought I’d find myself with. Do you know… do you know that she and Reina have slept together?”
At Risako’s words, Chisato’s mind fogged slightly, but she managed to respond, “No I didn’t… but I suppose it doesn’t surprise me…” And truly it didn’t. She honestly didn’t know much about Miyabi, but from what she knew about Reina, she knew that she herself was definitely not the only one who had gotten herself into a situation like that night. Still, hearing it stated clearly as a fact made her heart do a few somersaults. “But that was a while back, right?” She knew it must be, but had to hear confirmation that it was true…
Risako nodded. “Of course. Long before we got to know any of them. Still,” she said, shaking her head. “Those kinds of things are why I have doubts about getting involved with Miyabi-san. I mean, if she is really prone to casual sex like that…”
Chisato found herself staring off into space and not listening too closely to the other girl’s words. Casual sex… That’s really all that happened with her and Reina, wasn’t it? And if Miya is prone to casual sex, that must mean Reina has some type of addiction. How could she ever expect that because of that one night the girl might feel something for her? Still… she believed there had to be something… Or was it just her youth? She blushed slightly at the thought. For all of Reina’s seeming promiscuity, she doubted very much she’d ever had anyone else quite as young as her. Could she really just be deluding herself because of her naïveté?
“…and then of course there’s the whole thing with Airi,” Risako continued on, before noticing Chisato’s vacant expression. “But… you’re paying absolutely no attention to me, are you?”
It took a second for Chisato to realize the other girl had become silent before she finally responded, “Huh? Oh… of course I’m… not at all paying attention…” she finished apologetically. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Risako said with a smile. “It’s not like it’s anything you haven’t heard before anyway. So… what did Reina get so inspired about?”
“Oh…” Chisato said, still somewhat distracted, “She just decided she needed to make Airi stop being so stubborn and actually decide on some things.”
“Good,” Risako said with a frown. “Not that I’ve been able to talk to her myself much lately, but Airi has seemed a bit flaky. I mean, I suppose I can’t understand what she’s dealing with concerning her power and all, but we really can’t stay here forever, and she seems nearly content to let us do just that, especially if their parents keep bringing supplies like they do.”
“I don’t know,” Chisato said noncommittally. “I guess. Oh, Reina was also saying something about Takahashi-san thinking up some kind of plan… though I think she believes that “plan” just includes time in the bedroom with Niigaki-san…” She blushed saying that last comment, and saw Risako do the same.
“Well, maybe we should talk with her sometime, huh?” Risako asked. “I mean, until all this happened we were her best friends. Maybe we still have some influence left,” she said with a smile. “Oh! I almost forgot! Did you know…”
The two of them talked like that for a good while until Miyabi came and kicked them out of the room, or well, Chisato at least. The last she saw as she left was Miyabi pulling the other girl closer than was needed for “just talking”. She sighed as she walked down the hall. “Nothing has been happening, my butt…” she murmured to herself.
After dropping in on some of the other girls for not much more than a greeting, she decided she’d try to go upstairs and see if she could find Airi like Risako and she had talked about. Perhaps Reina had gotten to her by this point as well and she’d be more… amenable, at least. She’d better have, for it to be worth her great plan of getting Reina to work with her being ruined.
When she reached Airi’s room she knocked on the door, but when there was no answer she walked on in… and immediately froze at the scene in front of her. Airi was indeed there, and sitting on the bed… but so was Maimi, and the two were making out to the point that Chisato’s face quickly turned several shades of deep red.
She was about to step out when Airi had apparently noticed her and pulled away from Maimi, jumping up quickly and looking scandalized herself. “Hello!” she said a bit too cheerily. “Um, well then! That sounds good, Maimi. We’ll definitely have to talk with Reina soon. In fact, I think I’m going to go find her right now…” She took a step toward the door before Maimi clutched at her shirt, making her stop in her tracks, an amused grin on the older girl’s face.
“It’s all right,” she said. “You’re right – we’ll talk with her soon. Where are my manners though? This is your room… You stay here and talk with your friend. I think I’m gonna go find something to eat.” She rose, while pulling Airi down by her shirt back to the bed. Chisato was beginning to be amused by the situation as well, at least until she noticed that the grin Maimi held wasn’t shared by her eyes, which looked full of hesitation. “Chisa…” she greeted as she passed, still grinning and patting her on the head. Chisato smoothed her hair in annoyance. Why was everyone doing that today? She was not that short… ok, well maybe she was… but still!
“Good luck in the kitchen,” Chisato called over her shoulder. “I think there’s plenty of rice there at least…” Then the girl was gone, and she shut the door behind her and walked over to join Airi, who seemed unable to speak at the moment, on the bed.
“Well,” Chisato said finally as the silence stretched on between them. “I guess things are going well for you?”
As if her voice had unlocked a floodgate, words began pouring out of her friend’s mouth.
“Oh my god!!!” Airi nearly screeched. “I’m so embarrassed! I don’t even know what happened! I saw Reina earlier, and could barely get two words in between her lecturing me on being responsible, and afterward I ran into Maimi, and we came back here to talk about what Reina had said to me, since we’ve been trying to get her involved in all these discussions lately you know, and we were just talking and then… and then all of a sudden we just kissed! I don’t even know who started it, or why I was going along with it, but it felt so nice and so I didn’t want it to end and so it just kept going and going until I noticed you had come and…”
“Whoa there…” Chisato said, taking Airi’s hand. “Slow down there, girl.” She tried to prevent herself from cracking a laugh at the breathless girl beside her. “So you guys haven’t been together, or done that kind of thing before, or even really talked about the two of you?”
“No!” Airi said with wide eyes and a shaking head. “Ever since the day she woke up, whenever we meet it’s been so awkward, so we’ve tried to just act businesslike whenever we’re around each other – that’s why we were just talking now after I saw Reina – but then this happened and I… I don’t think we’re going to be able to go back to just being businesslike too easily…”
“No, probably not…” Chisato said, unsure of what else to say in this situation. And she thought her problems were difficult. At least whatever happened with her probably wouldn’t affect anything outside of her own life. Airi on the other hand… and even Maimi too… with everything that was going on… A spark of envy flared up in her again, and she remembered the day she auditioned to be a Skull. At that point she knew Airi was smart and likely to get a great job after school, but she thought that if she joined the Skulls she might be able to do something truly special, as she knew had happened to most Skulls of the past. It turned out that she passed the audition, but afterward the world seemed to turn upside down, and suddenly… suddenly it was Airi that was the one that was obviously special, even though she couldn’t have imagined it would come to the point it had…
“Hey,” Chisato said, trying to stamp down her envy with thoughts of the reality of the position Airi had found herself in. “You said Reina talked to you… What did she say?”
Even through the change of topic, Airi’s eyes stayed wide. “I couldn’t believe her!” she said. “She came up to me and started demanding I make decisions… and take responsibility for myself… She basically told me I should accept the Emperor’s offer to move into the palace. I mean, can you imagine that? The palace! I can hardly handle things here in my own house…”
“I’m sure there would be many advantages to it…” Chisato said slowly. “First of all, I’m sure you wouldn’t have to do everything yourself. Your parents come and help us here, right? Well, there they’d have probably 10 staff members for each one of us to cater to our every need.”
“I know, but… I don’t want all of that…” Airi said, her eyes now beginning to moisten. “I just want to be a normal girl… take classes… learn about things…”
Chisato took Airi’s hand now in both of hers and squeezed it softly, steeling herself for what she was going to say next. “But you’re not, Osuzu… You’re not a normal girl… I don’t know what it is you are, but you’re special… you’re destined for great things. You know why I believe in you so much? It’s because you’re a good person. People who have power can do whatever they want with it, and it’s the simple fact that you don’t want it that makes you the best able to use it. I think moving to the palace will be the first step. From there on… who knows… but I know you’ll make the right decisions. But in any case, the point is, you need to make them.”
Tears definitely were in Airi’s eyes this time as she laid her other hand on top of her friend’s. Despite that, she coughed a soft laugh. “You know, you basically said the same thing Reina did, just… in a completely different way…” Chisato became slightly uncomfortable at yet another mention of Reina, but stayed quiet as her friend went on. “You’re right. I’ve been stupid. I suppose I should do something, shouldn’t I? I mean, I’ve already affected so many lives….” Her eyes took on a sad look. “Ended so many lives… no matter how I’ve tried to avoid it. Maybe it’s time for a different outlook, ne?”
“It might be,” Chisato said, doing her best to look as earnest as possible to her friend who really seemed to need her right now. She wondered if she should feel bad that she liked that she was needed by this girl…
Finally Airi patted her hand and withdrew her own, standing up to sniff and rub her eyes. “I’ll gather the others. We need to have a talk. No matter what decision I might make, I want everybody to be happy with it, and I’m still not sure everyone will be.” She turned back to Chisato with a smile. “Thank you again. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” And with that, she left.
Chisato stayed on Airi’s bed for a few minutes just smiling softly and sadly to herself. Well, if she wasn’t special herself, perhaps she could support a friend who was. Still, she wondered how important her role could really be…
Eventually she rose and left the room herself to find JunJun and LinLin talking to each other softly in Chinese in the corridor, looking in the opposite direction. “Hey,” she said to them, and they cut their conversation off abruptly to turn to her.
“Hello,” LinLin said brightly.
However, JunJun gave a glance down the hall where they had been looking before saying anything herself. “We are sorry. We didn’t know anyone was in there. Were you sleeping? I hope we were not too loud.”
“No, no,” Chisato said with a smile. “It’s fine. I wasn’t sleeping at all, and you wouldn’t have bothered me anyway.”
The two older girls exchanged glances before looking back at Chisato. “You were just talking with Suzuki-san?” LinLin asked. Chisato nodded.
“She came out of here in…” JunJun began, before pausing as if searching for the right word, “…looking a little funny. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” Chisato said cheerfully. “Everything’s fine! It sounds like we may be moving out of this house soon too. It’s gotten to be quite cramped in here, don’t you think?”
The two girls nodded as if in effusive agreement, and exchanged glances again. “Really?” LinLin asked. “Moving? That’s good to hear. I wonder where we will go?”
Chisato hesitated a moment before shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know. But I think Airi’s at least made up her mind to do something, and I think everyone will follow whatever she decides…”
The girls nodded again. “True, true…” JunJun said. “She is the leader, no?” They exchanged glances again. “I’m sorry, we must be going. Thank you for the good news.” Then with a bow, the two girls walked on down the hall.
Chisato cocked her head slightly watching them leave. She didn’t know why, but she was glad to have them around. They always seemed to be a positive influence, and even showed great qualities as leaders when they went to battle. They definitely seemed more skilled than me… she thought to herself as she started sauntering down the hall as well. No matter what Reina says…
Feeling better about the day now, she picked up her pace a little and decided she might even try to join Maimi in the kitchen. Before reaching the stairs though, a giggle from the direction of one of the bedrooms caught her ear; it sounded like Reina. Perhaps she would change her plan again – if she could catch Reina in a bedroom the girl would have a hard time escaping her then, and this time she decided that whatever it took, she would give her confession, and take the results as whatever they might be.
As she walked slowly to the door, hoping to take the girl by surprise, she didn’t hear any more voices and wondered if she might be mistaken. It was slightly open already, and when she arrived she pushed it in just enough to get a view of the room, but what she saw caused bile to suddenly rise hard into her throat as she lost almost all sense of herself.
Reina was there, sitting on the bed, but Chisato could hardly see more than her back as her body was draped across Manoeri while they made out at least as intensely as Airi and Maimi just did. Furthermore, Reina was straddling one of the other girl’s legs, which were decently spread apart, and her arm was hidden underneath the pleated skirt up to the elbow.
For some reason Chisato could do nothing but stare at the two oblivious girls, until some feeling finally returned to her legs and she backed away slowly, not even able to pull the door back to where it had been. Bile still in her throat, she walked as if in a daze down the hall. She knew Reina was like this, so why did it surprise her so much? Why did she feel like she’d just lost everything? She had been just about to confess… confess that she liked this girl who she wondered if could really love anyone… Well, sure she could. She could love casually. Chisato wondered. Might it be better if she could do the same? She was a Skull after all… that seemed to be what Skulls do.
She didn’t know. She didn’t think so. Maybe she should try it – everyone else seemed to like it enough. But with who? Who would have her? Reina… That’s the only name that sounded through her mind.
She just realized that she’d begun to cry. She stumbled her way further down the hall, passing a bewildered Michishige and Kamei without a word along the way until she found her way back to where she started – Airi’s room. Airi… her friend… her best friend… the girl who was so great, yet still needed her. If someone like that needed her, why couldn’t Reina? “Come on, Chisato,” she scolded herself as she shut the door behind her and collapsed onto the bed. “Stop thinking that way, or you’ll never stop crying… Besides, with all you’re going through, is this really so important?”
It was a long while before she stopped crying.
-
I read it before you posted a new chapter!! XD
You know, I seriously have no idea how I missed this sequel... I know I was waiting for it... But I only discovered it maybe a week ago, and work and life have been so busy I haven't been able to comment on it yet. You know, I think I missed it 'cause I was waitig for something like a neon sign saying "CIRCLE OF THREE SEQUEL HERE!!!" - except that obviously didn't come. XD I'm actually at work right now taking a quick break to see what's been updated (because I now have this thread sending me e-mail updates, just like I have for Berry Beautiful and Circle of Three when it was still in the works). I'll comment on the actual story after I read the upcoming chapter, but I'm liking it so far. :)
I need more Miya x Rii time! I really should comment on Berry Beautiful soon too. >_<
Thanks for the awesome stories, rokun! :D
*EDIT* You beat me to posting my comment... But I totally read yours before you posted the chapter. XD I'll be reading the chapter when I get home from work!
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I thought Takahashi killed Koharu in Mari's house; with Koharu's own sword?
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Chapter 1 – A Normal Day for a Normal Girl
Waking to the morning light, Chisato felt once again like she’d hardly slept at all. With how crowded Airi’s house was with all of them there, and more girls somehow seeming to come every day, beds were naturally quite scarce, and Chisato apparently wasn’t important enough to even take shifts with one. It was a large house with as many as four bedrooms, one containing a large bed that until they mobbed the place used to be Airi’s parents’, one other containing a nearly as large bed for guests, with smaller beds in the other two rooms, one of which belonging to Airi.
Somewhat surprised that they're all still here at the house to begin with. One would think at least some of them might have tried to return to their respective hometowns.
Eventually everyone awoke, and they gathered for breakfast in the living room around a special table set in the middle, since the dining room was too small to support even just several of them. Still, Airi, Maimi, Miyabi, Reina and Ai were conspicuously absent, as they usually seemed to be from these meals, probably off discussing the futures of all of them or whatnot.
Yes.....or "whatnot". :P
MaiMai stared at her solitary bowl of rice almost as if it was about to spring legs and jump up at her. “Ugh…” she complained in a helpless voice. “Rice is great and all, but I really wish we had something else to eat in the mornings. Even just a bit of fish would be nice, or especially a nice omelette…” Her eyes started to adopt a dreamy gaze as if the rice was now transforming in front of her into her desired delicacy.
“I’m surprised we even have this,” Kanon said in slight amazement. “With this many of us here now, I have no idea how they manage to keep enough food around for everyone. I mean, they’re just girls after all.” At the odd stares she received after saying that, she blushed slightly and sank down into her chair. “I mean,” she defended in a much quieter voice, “It’s not like they have jobs where they get paid or something…”
Yeah, and even if they did have fundage, it's not like there's a supermarket just down the block, nor would they have means to transport all the groceries that they'd need to get.
There's no telling how long they'll have to be here, so they need to keep up the rationing as much as possible.
her attention was still focused on Michishige, who somehow even bunched together with all the other girls in this place and first thing in the morning managed to look beautiful. Not that she thought much of it, of course.
But of course. :roll:
Suddenly, she felt even less enthusiastic upon remembering the gossip within the last few days that it might have been Michishige who went with Reina to bed that night Miyabi had commandeered one of the couches.
Wait...wait...wait.........what? :?
“Is it really that bad that we’ve come?” Kanon said, having apparently regained some of her nerve. She now seemed to be getting a bit upset. “Do you still hate us?”
“Of course they don’t,” Chinami said, as if that would settle the matter. “Stop thinking such rubbish.”
“I don’t know…” Michishige said, and Kamei glanced up as if the comment from her friend was unexpected. “I mean, you did try to fight us.”
“It was you who were fighting against us!” Yurina protested, and Chinami laid a hand on her arm in an attempt to calm her.
“And look at the result!” Maasa said, speaking up for the first time. Chisato noticed her empty bowl and decided she must have been too focused on her rice to pay attention before. “It’s over, and we’re the ones trying to be friendly here.”
Now now now girls, that's just the hunger talking. Gotta keep a level head here. There's no point in dwelling on what's past, because right now EVERYONE is pretty much in the same boat (regardless of past affiliations).
“Just for the record, I’m not saying any such thing,” Maasa said, rubbing her stomach contentedly.
“Well I am, because you are!” Anri stated vehemently, and Chisato ducked at a flash of movement from Yurina, noticing only that a full bowl of rice went flying before a loud clang! made everyone freeze and go suddenly silent.
Eventually Chisato’s eyes followed everyone else’s just past where Manoeri was frozen with a spoonful of rice halfway to her mouth, the bowl she was eating from having toppled to the side, likely due to the heavy-looking large metal… club…? that had just been slammed onto the table next to it. Chisato even thought she saw a crack in the table beneath it.
Momoko withdrew her hand slowly from the handle, the scar trailing down from her eye patch standing out starkly beneath the shadow of her bangs.
Holy crap...Momo still has the club? :o
Everyone seemed to be awaiting something after the sudden action, but the girl just calmly picked up her chopsticks and resumed eating her rice quietly as if she’d done absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
I'd say that Momo's message got through loud and clear. :yep:
*CHINAMI'S SPEECH*
:cool1:
Whoa, Manoeri blushed at the mention of Reina? :D
“What knocks who down a few pegs?” Miyabi said, strolling into the room. “And what was that banging earlier?” she asked, Chisato noticing her eye stray to the heavy club on the table. “I thought we were being attacked.”
“But who would attack us?” Kanon said, smiling bashfully around at everyone. “Everyone likes us, don’t they?” Miyabi stared at her as if she just spoke a completely different language, but the rest of the girls around the table couldn’t keep smiles of their own from appearing. Chisato thought that Chinami was right – times might be tough, but they’ll get through them.
Miyabi = :mon huh2:
Everyone else = :hee:
“You guys were um… talking about Osuzu, weren’t you?” Chisato responded in a hesitant voice. “Something about her being stubborn?” The truth was, she didn’t much care what these two girls thought Airi was being stubborn about at the moment, though she did know her friend could give anyone a run for her money in stubbornness.
Something going on with Airi?
“Yeah,” Reina replied, finally seeming to relax a little. “You know the Emperor invited us to stay at the palace, right? We could have anything we wanted there… we’d be safe… if we looked out the window we wouldn’t see people staring at us all the time… not that they wouldn’t be there, they’d just be too far for us to see. You see?”
Hmmm....interesting that he'd offer that. Was it just for the girls with the powers, or was he willing to let ALL of them stay there?
“Yeah, things were a little rough at breakfast this morning…” Chisato said, happy to at least be having a normal conversation with the girl.
“I heard,” Reina said with a frown and a faraway gaze. “Something about rice, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Chisato responded. “I mean, don’t you wish you had something else to eat too?”
“Nah, not really,” Reina responded, rubbing her stomach. “We don’t eat breakfast anyway.”
Ah, they're probably foregoing their own breakfasts so that the other girls can eat.
Ai-chan says she has some crazy idea, but won’t tell us what it is, and so she’s sequestered herself and Gaki in their bedroom for the day doing who knows what. The grin that appeared on Reina’s face afterward gave Chisato a pretty good idea of what she thought they were doing.
Reina = :mon misch:
Chisato = :mon duh:
When Reina just nodded and adopted that faraway look again, she went on. “If you… I mean… you say you’re busy and all… if you ever feel like you need some help, I’m sure someone would jump in there for you. Everyone respects you so much, after all,” she finished in a rush.
Awwww. :oops:
“You’re right! I should have more help! Airi’s the main one getting us all into this in the first place – her house, her battle she won, most of the people wanna talk to her – so I should make her actually own up to it and make more important decisions! Thanks, Chisa!” she finished, rising. Chisato had been nodding all the way through Reina’s spoken train of thought, but when the girl got up as if to leave she started to become frantic. No! Not Airi! That’s not the conclusion you were supposed to draw!
Not quite what she had been looking/hoping for.
Chisato = :doh:
Still, before she could help it Reina stood, and with a pat of thanks on Chisato’s head, strode briskly out of the room, leaving the younger girl still sitting with her mouth hanging open. “I would help you…” she said softly and meekly to no one, and laid her head on the table in resignation.
:cry:
Risako nodded. “You know what she’s like though… a person like that… It’s tough to love… or be loved.”
Chisato nodded too in agreement.
Yeah, she's always had the "tough" persona, it's probably hard for her to let anyone get close (especially with the recent conflict that they've all gone through).
“How about you? Anything happen with Miya since that kiss of yours?” She almost grinned at the remembrance.
This time Risako blushed slightly. “Actually, no…” she responded. “Though we have talked a bit. I’ve asked her some things. She’s definitely a different person than I ever thought I’d find myself with. Do you know… do you know that she and Reina have slept together?”
Oooooooh, that's gotta hurt. :O
“Those kinds of things are why I have doubts about getting involved with Miyabi-san. I mean, if she is really prone to casual sex like that…”
Chisato found herself staring off into space and not listening too closely to the other girl’s words. Casual sex… That’s really all that happened with her and Reina, wasn’t it?
I stand corrected.....THAT had to hurt.
:on polter:
The two of them talked like that for a good while until Miyabi came and kicked them out of the room, or well, Chisato at least. The last she saw as she left was Miyabi pulling the other girl closer than was needed for “just talking”. She sighed as she walked down the hall. “Nothing has been happening, my butt…” she murmured to herself.
Socko's busted. :lol:
“Whoa there…” Chisato said, taking Airi’s hand. “Slow down there, girl.” She tried to prevent herself from cracking a laugh at the breathless girl beside her. “So you guys haven’t been together, or done that kind of thing before, or even really talked about the two of you?”
“No!” Airi said with wide eyes and a shaking head. “Ever since the day she woke up, whenever we meet it’s been so awkward, so we’ve tried to just act businesslike whenever we’re around each other – that’s why we were just talking now after I saw Reina – but then this happened and I… I don’t think we’re going to be able to go back to just being businesslike too easily…”
Curious. One would have thought that they'd be all lovey-dovey after the day Maimi woke back up.
“You said Reina talked to you… What did she say?”
Even through the change of topic, Airi’s eyes stayed wide. “I couldn’t believe her!” she said. “She came up to me and started demanding I make decisions… and take responsibility for myself… She basically told me I should accept the Emperor’s offer to move into the palace. I mean, can you imagine that? The palace! I can hardly handle things here in my own house…”
“I’m sure there would be many advantages to it…” Chisato said slowly. “First of all, I’m sure you wouldn’t have to do everything yourself. Your parents come and help us here, right? Well, there they’d have probably 10 staff members for each one of us to cater to our every need.”
“I know, but… I don’t want all of that…” Airi said, her eyes now beginning to moisten. “I just want to be a normal girl… take classes… learn about things…”
Aaaaaaaaaaah...so THAT'S why she turned down the offer to go to the palace. Her world has alredy been turned upside-down enough just by having these powers. She's just looking for some semblance of normalcy.
She turned back to Chisato with a smile. “Thank you again. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” And with that, she left.
Chisato stayed on Airi’s bed for a few minutes just smiling softly and sadly to herself. Well, if she wasn’t special herself, perhaps she could support a friend who was. Still, she wondered how important her role could really be…
Oh, I'd say that Chisato's role is far, far, FAR more important than she or Airi or anyone else would currently realize.
Feeling better about the day now, she picked up her pace a little and decided she might even try to join Maimi in the kitchen. Before reaching the stairs though, a giggle from the direction of one of the bedrooms caught her ear; it sounded like Reina. Perhaps she would change her plan again – if she could catch Reina in a bedroom the girl would have a hard time escaping her then, and this time she decided that whatever it took, she would give her confession, and take the results as whatever they might be.
Uh-oh. Her plan's going to go right down the crapper if she happens to find that Reina's NOT alone. :-X
Reina was there, sitting on the bed, but Chisato could hardly see more than her back as her body was draped across Manoeri while they made out at least as intensely as Airi and Maimi just did. Furthermore, Reina was straddling one of the other girl’s legs, which were decently spread apart, and her arm was hidden underneath the pleated skirt up to the elbow.
Crap, I called it. :bleed eyes:
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I thought Takahashi killed Koharu in Mari's house; with Koharu's own sword?
Thank you. ^^ :oops: And here I thought I was doing well with juggling the characters... Well, at least it wasn't a huge issue. :) This is what happens when I get completely distracted and don't write for awhile. :P Hazukashii na...
Oh, I also wanted to note in regard to JFC's comments that the "speech" that was given after the little fight broke out at the breakfast table was done by Chinami, and not Chisato. I know it's easy to get them confused XD, but there's a reason it was Chinami who gave it, which will become clearer later, so I thought it deserved a mention. :)
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“No!” Airi said with wide eyes and a shaking head. “Ever since the day she woke up, whenever we meet it’s been so awkward, so we’ve tried to just act businesslike whenever we’re around each other – that’s why we were just talking now after I saw Reina – but then this happened and I… I don’t think we’re going to be able to go back to just being businesslike too easily…”
only this ...
I believe that Japan is doing much ... cold
uM...
Airi not yet learned that Yuuka and Maimi have been given a kiss ...
airi not yet learned taht Yuuka loves to Maimi. Airi be jealous of this ...
airi be jealous when you see a Yuuka with Maimi.
Chisato is nice to see as the protagonist of this chapter ...Not desire see to an Airi enclosed and alone to make orders ... airi not please! I wish more of a free airi, outside obligations, clinging to her ideals, and being obstinate.
I do not want to see an Airi queen in a palace or as an ambitious Tanaka. Tanaka no dislike me in this chapter.
Even Chisato. just thinking about the power, mandate and no one thinks in Airi ...
that selfish ... :angry:
Airi would be better than leaving everything and flee with Maimi and be happy.
No doubt in his history: Airi, Chisato,Risa, Yuuka and Risako are girls sweet.
Maimi, Miyabi, Ai and Tanaka are girls attractive.
Anyway, first of all:
Maimi_Yajima, etc: You seemed a bit concerned about Maimi's injury and the role Reina and Airi played in regard to it. In the final battle of Circle of Three, Airi used her power to knock Maimi out, which was her "sunbeam" type power - causing the burn on her chest. Afterward, when the battle was over, Reina went around to heal everyone, but remember she said she wouldn't heal Maimi the whole way as somewhat of a "punishment" for what she'd done (that's Reina for you). That's what Airi scolded her about so much. Reina could easily heal Maimi's scar etc. the whole way to where it would look like nothing was wrong, but she won't because she thinks Maimi deserves it. Airi thinks otherwise. Hence the scolding. :P
Oh, a mention about another scar while we're on the subject: You'll come to find Momoko still has her scar as well (including a missing eye). Reina could heal that as well, or at least the scar (the eye might be another matter), but Momoko doesn't let her because she wants to keep it as a reminder of what can happen when you make mistakes or some such... Momoko's an interesting person. You'll see more of her as this story unfolds. ;) More of everyone really...
So Tanaka punishing Maimi ...
I think maimi and tanaka are strongman character and pride ...
Tanaka is cruel .. :angry:
and it is curious that Tanaka was having a better relationship with Ai that with Maimi.
Maybe because Airi loves to Maimi and Tanaka is a jealous because she cares for her younger sister.
Or...
simply Tanaka not sympathetic with Maimi for the simple fact that airi want to spend time with Maimi and did not want to do responsible for the obligations that Tanaka wants impose in Airi.
Poor Chisato ... Tanka is cruel... :angry:
The behavior of Momoko is interesting ...
The relationship love, between Miya and Risako is interesting ...
Have not been found Yuuka and Maimi. Even the loving relationship of Maimi and Airi is too cold! and everything is in parties.
and yet still I see nothing of what I hope to see ... Well, this indicates wait and wait ...
And guess who will spend 2 or 3 months to read the next chapter ...good...
and continue to enjoy life in japan sir ...
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Aw man, this Chisato chapter saddens me :( The whole learning more of Reina's promiscuity and finally seeing it, poor Chisato. That would be interesting to see Chisa become like Reina..
Lol at Chisa walking in on Airi and Maimi. Airi's all freaked and surprised, and Maimi's all smiles. :lol:
It's great to see the 1st chapter up after a long time :D but I understand where you're coming from. Anways, always excited to see an update on this or the other story.
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Wow, sounds a little crowded. :lol: It's kinda sad to see that some of the girls still can't trust each other but they are making some progress.
Aww, poor Chisa. :( Reina and her ability to have casual sex with anyone...sucks. Although when I read that Reina's arm was up Manoeri's skirt up to the elbow, I was like "ELBOW?!?!?!?!" :P
Sorry my comment is so lame, school's been wiping me out everyday.
Will edit when I get home today.
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About damn time you updated! D:
Now go update B.B D<
On the story, it kinda' sucks for chisato and all that with Reina being some 'play-girl'
But she should have sorta' expected it with Reina's personality I guess?
And the miya/rii love...needs Moar lurve D<
XD
I'd give you a longer comment but I gotta' haul my ass to work soo yeah
Update man, update!
Updating is your friend~ :mon baby:
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Oh, I also wanted to note in regard to JFC's comments that the "speech" that was given after the little fight broke out at the breakfast table was done by Chinami, and not Chisato. I know it's easy to get them confused XD, but there's a reason it was Chinami who gave it, which will become clearer later, so I thought it deserved a mention. :)
Whoops. Edited.
:mon sweat:
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I'm loving the sequel as much as the first story!! Though, I have to say, I need more Miya time.. XD
So looking at the prologue, I can understand Maimi's confusion and disorientation with everything as she woke up, but poor Airi, having Maimi accuse her of trying to kill her.
I had a feeling that something went on between Maimi and Captain. It's gotta be tough to wake up and find out something like that. And Aichan's theory on the different ways the founders spirits affected the three in the Circle was quite interesting.
That crowd outside must be highly unnerving for the girls there, mainly Airi, Miya and Reina, I'd think. It wasn't quite explained here, but does all of Japan know about all three of the girls? Is Airi the focal point of everything? I'm quite curious to find out about this. It will be interesting to see what happens when the girls actually leave the house. Also, for food and etc. couldn't Miya teleport out and get some things to avoid the crowd? If things are known about all three of them, couldn't she take one of the lesser known girls with her to get supplies that they need... Which leads me to my next little bit...
Miya and Reina are absolutely hilarious when their parents come over. Actually, as I type this, I think that answers my question about Japan knowing about all three of the girls, but it seems Aichan and Maimi are not known about. It would be one thing for Airi's parents to be able to find her in their own house, but the fact that Miya and Reina's parents know where their daughters are must mean that the two of them have also been mentioned in the papers.
“Well, see…” Natsuyaki said, as if she’d had to explain this many times, “It just wouldn’t be proper to hide myself, would it? Then it would be obvious I’m trying to avoid them. If someone else did it then it’s not really my fault, is it?”
Oh Miya, you amuse me so. XD
Now for chapter 1:
I was hoping for a little bit more Miya here, but that's okay... I can wait. XD
Poor Chisa! Pretty much through this entire chapter I just wanted to give her a big hug! After than conversation with Reina, and then Reina just up and disappearing on her... >_< I just knew Chisa would be crushed with this whole Reina business.
The last she saw as she left was Miyabi pulling the other girl closer than was needed for “just talking”. She sighed as she walked down the hall. “Nothing has been happening, my butt…” she murmured to herself.
I want more info on the Miya/Rii-chan relationship!!! NEED MORE INFO NAO!! XD
I'm still not impressed with Airi and Maimi - well more Airi and getting it on with Maimi so soon after crushing Miya's heart. And I can't remember if I commented on it before, but I felt so bad for Miya when she confronted Airi and Maimi at the end of The Circle of Three, realizing that they had kissed - a lot. But yea, I'm still upset with Airi for that, so I'm not fully on board with the Airi/Maimi bit, but it was nice to see Chisato get to talk with Airi (and Maimi's amused reaction to getting caught making out, compared to Airi's scandalized/embarrassed reaction). Like Airi said to Chisa when she and Miya first got together, Chisa is her best friend and no love interest is going to get in the way of that.
And the ending... Reina with Manoeri... T__T CHISA!! *BIG HUG*
Anyway, awesome beginning to the sequel, and I can't wait for more!! :D
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If ...
I was upset when it Airi also been kissed with Miya and to suffer Maimi.
Maimi also suffered.
And now it is being happy with Airi.
Airi always love to Maimi.
apart Airi and Miya are sisters.
but ...
now everything is good and excellent!
Miyabi with Risako. :wub: :heart:
Maimi with Airi. :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub:
No one will suffer ....
Chisato only suffer by Reina ...
Ah! and Yuuka also suffer by the love Maimi.
but for me ...
the love of maimi and airi is the strength of this story!
will be interesting to read Yuuka, Maimi and Airi I look forward with enthusiasm this part! :wub:
and another thing ...
Rokun not yet revealed who will be the villains and enemies of his new fan fic.
Rokun Did not explain much about your fan fic!
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Ok, so it's too late to post comment replies - I'm sorry - but maybe I'll try to do so tomorrow. :) For now, I bet you guys would just like another chapter, wouldn't you? Don't get blinded by the flash rapid updates, now. :pimp:
Chapter 2 – Celebrity
Airi tapped her fingers impatiently on the table as she stared between her two companions, the tapping intruding into an otherwise uncomfortable silence among the three of them. Maimi as well shared her attention between her two former enemies, seemingly unsure which she should give more to, but upon looking at each her face adopted completely opposite emotions. Miyabi, for her part, reclined lazily in her chair filing at her fingernails as if there was nobody else in the room, but all the same did not speak.
Meeting Maimi’s eyes for what must have been the hundredth time, and yet again quickly lowering her own, Airi stopped her tapping.
“Wow, it’s quiet in here,” Miyabi said suddenly, drawing both other sets of eyes. “I didn’t realize how much tension that drumming of yours was creating. You quitting it was like a train that was barreling toward someone stranded on the tracks stopping just before running over some poor overworked salaryman.”
“That’s horrible,” Maimi said in a sour voice. “Don’t you have any taste at all?”
Miyabi looked back at the girl, scandalized. “What?” she asked. “Is something wrong with my clothes?” She looked down at the dark vest, the buttons of which were shaped like skulls, she wore over a white turtle-necked shirt, with below that a puffy and frilly black skirt that somehow looked acceptable over a set of pink hose. For a moment Airi couldn’t help herself staring, memories of her time with the girl seeping back to her, but she quickly caught sight of Maimi carefully observing her out of the corner of her eye and lowered them again. Where were the others?! Someone had to save her from this…
“I don’t think it’s the clothes,” Maimi said quietly, still staring at Airi.
Miyabi shrugged. “Didn’t think so, or else something must be wrong with your eyesight cause Airi over there is just about ready to jump me here and now.”
Airi’s eyes shot up. “Am not!!!” she protested, eliciting a crooked smile from Miyabi.
“Whaddya say babe? Wanna hop this joint and go make hot sweet love somewhere?” Miyabi cooed in one of her more seductive voices.
Airi felt her face redden, and stealing a glance at Maimi, she saw the girl’s own was quickly turning as well, her lips pursing in an excruciating silence. “You…” Airi began. “You… You need to stop saying such things!” She looked sadly at Maimi, with her darkened features. The kiss earlier that day was confusing, but it was still nice, and she had a feeling that things had now been set back once again. She had to get out of this house…
At that moment Reina strolled into the room, and taking a quick appraisal of the current climate, took a seat next to Miyabi and as far as possible from both Maimi and Airi. “Geez, I’m not that late, am I?” she asked disbelievingly, casting a glance at Maimi before settling her eyes on Miyabi. “You must work fast to get her so worked up already.”
Miyabi shrugged, again as calm as if she’d been saying absolutely nothing out of the norm. “I can’t help it if the girl’s jealous. You should have seen her face when I asked Airi upstairs.”
“Ah,” Reina said, nodding sagely. “That would definitely do it. You know, we gotta live with her now, so it might be best not to do things like that so often…”
“I can easily leave,” Maimi said in a cold voice. “Or my offer to incinerate you still stands.”
“Maimi!” Airi hissed plaintively, but everyone appeared to ignore her as if she wasn’t the center of the conversation and sitting right there.
Miyabi gave one of those small smiles again without looking up, still filing her fingernails. “I’ll take a pass on that I think. Although you know, especially with the both of us here, the second you thought of doing such a thing you’d cease to exist yourself one way or another.”
“Hence the offer,” Maimi said, still in a low voice. “If you asked me I’d just be happy to oblige.” Her voice lowered slightly again, though this time in a more petulant way. “I know I’d be no match for either of you in a fight, unless…”
“Sorry to keep you waiting!!” Ai said, hurrying in the door dragging a somewhat breathless-looking Risa behind her. Unlike Reina apparently paying no attention to the mood of the room, they took two of the vacant seats between Airi and Maimi. “We were putting the finishing touches on our proposal.”
“I can guess what kind of proposal that would be…” Reina said, now smirking herself.
“Hey Tanaka, I’m getting antsy,” Miyabi said, sighing and appraising her fingers before looking up for the first time. She then raised a finger to Reina’s arm and traced slowly up it. “If this show doesn’t get on the road soon, wanna go have some fun somewhere?”
Trying to put the current situation out of her mind as much as possible since everyone was here, Reina and Miyabi staring lustily at each other, Maimi still with cool fury staring at the both of them, and Ai and Risa also staring with the most confused expressions, Airi decided it was time to get this meeting she had called started… somehow… after such an inauspicious opening.
“Thank you all for coming so quickly…” she said in an attempt at grateful formality.
“It wasn’t hard,” Miyabi said, as her and Reina still eyed each other, though Airi thought her appraisal had for some reason become more thoughtful than seductive. “I mean, we all live at least five transfers apart, but if it’s important we can sure manage it.” Airi thought she could cut a knife through the girl’s sarcasm, which was even somehow lightening Maimi’s mood.
“Speak for yourself,” Reina said, staring evenly into Miyabi’s eyes. “Some of us have important things to do that we might have been interrupted from.” That earned a smirk from Miyabi, and the two finally broke eye contact, though their fingers still intertwined within hands held between them.
“Are you two, um… together now or something?” Risa asked, looking apprehensively at the pair.
This time they both almost broke into laughter. “You see,” Miyabi responded. “That’s a funny story…”
“…Which we do not have the time to hear right now!” Airi broke in, feeling her face flushing slightly once again. She was trying her best not to think about what the two had been saying in their wordless communication together, but she knew enough to wonder at the older girl’s apparent innocence. Ai and Risa, Reina and Miyabi… it was as if the two pairs of girls were from completely different worlds.
“Exactly,” Maimi said in a very neutral voice. “You said you had something important to tell us, right?” She glanced over at the two eldest. “And you two have come up with some kind of plan, right?” Airi thought the girl was especially keen on that – perhaps something that could get her away from the rest of them – an attitude that Airi definitely couldn’t blame her for, but couldn’t help but be a bit sad about.
“Yes,” Ai said, her eyes sparkling in her smile. She turned to Airi. “But let’s hear what Airi has to say first.”
Airi nodded. Even though she was the youngest of their group – and by a decent bit – she’d gotten used to being deferred to, especially since they’d met many times like this since they all came to the house. “I’ve been thinking…” she said. “About the Emperor’s proposal…”
The mood in the room quickly changed completely.
“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” Maimi asked slowly, her brooding gone as if it had never begun.
“The Emperor…” Reina said, tapping at her teeth with her free hand. “He seemed like a nice guy. I wouldn’t mind meeting him again.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind…” Miyabi said suspiciously. “I still don’t know if I like the idea or not.” She looked down at the hand that was intertwined with Reina’s. “It would be hard work being civil. And definitely not much fun.”
“How about if we just hear her out?” Ai said, looking confidently around at them, and then back to Airi, nodding for her to go on. As Airi looked back into the older girl’s eyes, she caught a glimmer of mirth in them that she didn’t know what to think of, but thought she might as well do as the girl says and go on.
“Well, I’ve been thinking…” she said, a little more thoughtfully now. “Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to accept his offer anyway. Like you Miya I have reservations about going to the palace, but…” she said, sharing a firm glance with her two Skull comrades, and finishing with a glance toward Maimi, “We also can’t stay in this house forever, and with the events of today, I think it’s about time we leave.”
“Kanpai to that,” Miyabi said, producing a glass from somewhere and raising it to gesture before taking a sip. Airi didn’t want to wonder too much at the brown liquid it held.
“Hey, didn’t your mother ever tell you it isn’t nice not to share?” Reina asked with a frown. “Where did you get that?” She looked around as if Miyabi might be hiding the bottle from her somewhere.
“I never listened to my mother,” Miyabi said, a grin plastered across her face. “As for where it came from, well…”
However, she was interrupted before she could go on by Risa’s loud clearing of her throat, and Miyabi showed her grin to her and Ai before taking another drink, this time draining the glass.
“But it seems like you’re still not crazy about the palace itself, are you?” Ai asked, eyes attentive on Airi. “Or the rest of us, for that matter…” she continued, pointedly avoiding a glance to Miyabi.
“It still scares the hell out of me, honestly…” Airi admitted after a moment. “I just can’t shake the feeling that if we go there, we’ll feel like we don’t belong…” Not to mention she wasn’t looking forward to how they would treat her there.
She saw how the Emperor and his staff looked at her when they met in the garden. She’d seen how the people outside and even various Shinto priests who’d stopped by looked at her. Of course many looked at Miyabi and Reina in a similar way as well – depending on the person apparently; for example, people from Izumo couldn’t seem to take their eyes off Reina – but she was unequivocally the center of attention. In their eyes Amaterasu in the flesh, more hallowed than the Emperor himself and far more worthy. It didn’t help that the Emperor seemed to feel the same.
“But you’re right,” Maimi said, holding onto some hope. “We can’t stay in here forever…” Oddly, in the midst of sharing another glance, Miyabi and Reina nodded their heads slightly in agreement.
“I still don’t like the idea of a palace…” Miyabi said, seemingly leaning closer to Reina as if clinging to her for dear life. “But maybe I could get used to it. I’m sure we would have private rooms at least, right? And big ones, with beds that you could even get lost in?” Her voice was starting to take on a dreamy quality. But nobody answered her.
“What if we could leave here and go somewhere safe, yet not the palace?” Ai asked after a moment, obviously hiding her excitement as she and Risa looked on at the others.
Airi sighed. “That would definitely be nice.” Perhaps everyone was right. Maybe she should take on the role she was, well, apparently born for.
“I don’t know…” Miyabi said. “I’m starting to like this idea of a big room with a big bed…” There was a sound of crashing wood, followed by crashing glass, and Airi looked up startled to see Miyabi sprawled back on the floor having… fallen back in her chair? The glass she held was now broken where it had flown out of her hand near a counter.
“Oops…” Reina said, dusting her hands off with disinterest. “You should really be careful you know. These chairs aren’t designed to be tilted back.” For the first time since coming to the room, Maimi almost cracked a grin, causing Airi to show one of her own.
Miyabi slowly picked herself off the floor, gazing steadily at Reina the whole time, and resetting her chair settled back in. “Aren’t they now?” she said quietly. “I’ll keep that in mind. And damn it, now I need a new glass. I’ll have to try not to be so clumsy.” The not unfriendly glare she was giving Reina seemed to convey to Airi, who thought she knew the girl well enough by now, that somehow the girl would pay later. Know the girl she might though, she wasn’t quite sure what was going on between the two of them at the moment. Some things were better kept a mystery, she decided in the end.
“Well that’s not exactly the setup I was looking for…” Ai said with a slight frown as she observed Miyabi, “But Nii-chan and I have thought of something that might be able to fix all our problems.”
“All of them?” Airi asked hopelessly, still looking at Miyabi, who had taken Reina’s hand once again, but by the other girl’s tightened mouth she must have been using quite a grip.
“Of course!” Risa burst out excitedly. “I mean… tell them, Ai-chan! If you don’t, I’m going to have to do it myself, and I’m sure if that happened it’d be incomprehensible enough that they wouldn’t understand a thing…”
“All right,” Ai said, still frowning, but this time at Airi. Airi tried to force her face into a smile. Despite being somewhat apart from the internal er… experiences of the rest of them, the girl definitely picked up on things quickly. “We all seem to be in agreement that the palace is, among other things, too grand and elaborate just for schoolgirls like us. Am I wrong?” At the objection of no one, she went on.
“So we thought… if that was the case… what better place to go for us than a school?”
“A school?” Reina asked, seeming nearly terrified at the thought.
This time Miyabi did bark a laugh. “Oh yeah, that’ll work really well. Just go to some random public school – whichever would take us I imagine – and instead of being stared at from a distance from the street like now have everyone stare at us every minute of every day. You’re just welcoming all kinds of perverts and bad influences with that.”
“Besides,” Maimi spoke up, casting an eye at Miyabi as if unhappy she was agreeing with the girl about anything, “There can’t be any schools open now. With the water and everything like this, it’s still going to be days at least.”
“First of all, I think you’d be surprised at who’d take us,” Ai said in a calm tone. “And second, I don’t mean to go to some random school. I’m talking about opening our own.” Risa seemed almost to be bouncing out of her seat in anticipation of something.
Watching the both of them, something dawned on Airi, and her mouth fell open slowly. Ai, who had been observing her, adopted a small smile. “You know what I mean, don’t you?”
“Seishin…” a voice spoke, but it wasn’t Airi’s nor Ai’s. Miyabi now watched Ai just as carefully and seriously as she had been watching the others, her hand in Reina’s seemingly forgotten, of which the other girl seemed grateful as she stretched nearly broken fingers. “You want to take the Headmaster’s place.”
Ai, at first somewhat surprised at the girl’s insights, soon relaxed when she apparently remembered who she was dealing with. “Yes,” she said. “It would be quite an undertaking for us, but Nii-chan and I had nearly graduated anyway, and we have a feeling that a transition at this point in time, even for us, would be… somehow smooth. We’ve talked, and decided that it’s something both of us would like to try and do.”
“You mean with Airi, Reina and I there, you wouldn’t have a problem getting students to come no matter what your age and experience, right?” Miyabi asked shrewdly again.
Ai stared quietly back at her. “You know I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you reading my mind like that. I’m surprised you’re not a step ahead of me at every moment.”
Miyabi suddenly smiled. “When there are billions of people’s thoughts in your head, it gets tiring sometimes focusing on one for long. Besides, you’re not usually interesting enough to bother seeking out. Usually…” she said, grinning, and the two girls across from her blushed slightly.
“You really think it would work?” Airi asked, doing her best to ignore the others, which was easy with thoughts of the new idea just proposed.
“Of course we don’t know for sure,” Ai said, giving her that strong gaze again. “But we’re willing to work hard for it. Besides… if nothing else it’s a change of scenery. Even if we can’t get the staff back quickly, our parents could still bring stuff there couldn’t they? Plus then the rest of us could tell them where we are, and nothing would look out of the ordinary at all,” she finished, smiling. “In fact, as you know some of the girls have already been contacted to see how the school’s holding up through everything.”
Airi nodded. It started happening almost right after they returned here from the palace garden. They quickly got their story down that the school was fine; they just were stuck there. That seemed to satisfy most parents, who were just happy to know their children were safe. The plan was that eventually they could let them know that after the roads out opened up again, the school had to close for repairs so they’d have to come home. This way, they may not even have to resort to that. However, that caused another question to arise in Airi’s mind.
Her eyes widening as she looked back at Ai, she asked, “Will it even be safe to go back to the school? I mean, with the storm and all, surely it’s quite damaged? It’s kind of in a valley, after all…”
This time all the girls stared back at her, with the exception of Maimi, the corner of her mouth just turning up in a half-smile. “If that’s a problem, what’s the use of having supernatural powers?” she said finally, and Airi flushed slightly in embarrassment.
“You know, that’s true,” Risa said, looking at all of them curiously. Airi was a bit surprised she didn’t see more envy in the girl’s face. “With all you can do… we can do…” she corrected quickly, “Shouldn’t we be out there helping everyone clean up? Isn’t that what a good person would do?”
Nothing but silence answered her for a moment, and she began frowning as if afraid she’d said something wrong.
“…Being a good person is a lot of work,” Miyabi said finally.
“Yeah,” Reina agreed grudgingly, “I’m not sure if I’d be up for it.”
Ai laid her hand on Risa’s reassuringly. “That’s definitely a good idea Nii-chan, but aside from our… personal issues…” she said, looking at Miyabi and Reina, who peered back innocently, “I think if we were out there at this point, we’d cause more trouble than we’d fix. I’m really rather amazed we’ve stayed as protected as we’ve been in this house.”
Miyabi coughed softly at that. “Actually… that’s partly because of me…” she said, drawing all eyes. “After all those journalists came at the beginning, I set a shield around the edges of the yard to make anyone who thought of trying to come through it suddenly lose their memory, and so they end up just wandering away…”
Airi and Risa both gasped at that, though the others, including Ai and Maimi, just looked at the girl levelly. “How could you!” Risa exclaimed.
“Those poor people…” Airi lamented, knowing there was no helping it when Miyabi had done something… out of the ordinary.
“…I’m kidding…” Miyabi said, giving Airi a strange look. Airi frowned back. “In reality they just feel the urge to drop down and pray until they forget why they came there. Just that – that’s all. That’s why you see so many praying people out on the street.” She glanced to a wall as if she could see the people behind it, which Airi supposed she probably could. “But then, not everyone kneeling out there has tried to come closer…”
Airi wondered once again what it must be like inside Miyabi’s mind since she’d awoken to her full power, and as she looked on Miyabi turned to her, the two of them locking a long gaze.
“Well I think we’re all in agreement of that…” Ai said, trying to move things along again. “But what do you think about our idea? Shall Seishin reopen?”
The others were quiet for a moment, Airi still sharing that look with Miyabi before turning away, for the moment ignoring Maimi’s own observation of herself. “It’s crazy…” she admitted, “But that single plan does solve a number of our problems. I can’t deny it’s been comfortable here in my house again…”
“Comfortable is definitely a way of putting it…” Miyabi said sarcastically.
Giving her a look again, one that this time the other girl ignored, choosing instead to lay her head on Reina’s shoulder, Airi continued, “…But I know everyone else would be happier if we could go somewhere with at least a bit more space, and someplace familiar like Seishin would go a long way toward that.” She looked over at Ai and Risa. “When do you think we could make the move?”
The two girls suddenly smiled as one. “Like you said, there’s some cleanup to do, but I don’t see why we can’t even start that tonight. We could get started on the administrative work as well…” She glanced hesitantly over at Miyabi. “That is, if you would be willing to take us there? We don’t really want more than the two us going at first, to make sure our plan will work as we think it will. Well, the three of us I suppose.”
Miyabi sighed into Reina’s side. “…Hard work…” she moaned again.
“Let me know when you’re ready for the rest of us to help out,” Airi said cheerfully, trying to counteract Miyabi’s lack of enthusiasm.
“Of course,” Ai replied, apparently not letting Miyabi’s attitude affect her, as well as taking her response as assent.
“So…” Risa said, sounding almost disbelieving. “You guys accept the plan? You’ll trust us to get Seishin going again?”
“Of course,” Maimi said, smiling at the two encouragingly.
“It sounds like fun,” Reina said, then her eyes took on a dreamy look. “It’ll be nice to have plenty of young girls around to play with again…” Then she shook Miyabi off her shoulder, causing the girl to sit up while giving her a rude stare and finally letting go of her hand. “And you need to stop being lazy. Put your abilities to good use for once instead of spying on the rest of us when we want to be alone – don’t think I don’t notice when you pry into my head!” she scolded, shaking a finger at Miyabi, who narrowed her eyebrows and actually looked a bit shaken. For her part, Airi didn’t know what the girl was talking about. She sure didn’t seem to notice when Miyabi looked into her head, unless perhaps the girl didn’t do that… She almost giggled. Considering their history, small chance of that…
“Then is it okay for us to start now?” Ai asked, looking around at the rest of them, but especially toward Airi and Miyabi.
“Yeah, sure,” Miyabi said, giving a long-suffering sigh. “Let me just go, um…” She glanced at Airi for some reason. “Prepare a little. You two wanna meet near the door in fifteen minutes or so?”
“Sounds good!” Risa said, the excitement clear in her voice, and she and Ai rose.
“Excuse us,” Ai said with a slight bow. “If we’re leaving so soon, we have a lot to do.” She looked around to all of them. “We’ll do our best to make this the best option for all of us.”
“You’ll do fine,” Maimi said encouragingly again, rising herself. “You’re more than capable of it. Mind if I help?” she asked while walking over toward them.
“Thanks,” Ai said, and the three left the room.
“I guess that’s my cue as well,” Miyabi said, getting to her feet a bit more lackadaisically. “Hopefully I’ll see you later tonight sometime.”
“If you’re too late, you’re sleeping on the sofa,” Reina told her as she left, leaning back in her own chair. When it became just the two of them, she rolled an eye over to Airi. “You were rather quiet through all that,” she said in a lower and much different voice. “Are you really as up to this idea as you seem?”
Airi stood without a response, walking over to the window to gaze out at the people praying along the side of the street, the number there as well of the tents seeming to grow every day. “Honestly…” she began slowly, “I am a bit scared to leave here. Especially if Miya really has been taking an active role in keeping us isolated… I know Seishin is isolated enough itself, but there will be a lot more people there than just us, like it is now.”
“But you were the one who suggested we leave here. You called the meeting, didn’t you?” Reina asked.
Airi sighed. “Yes I did… but I’m not sure if I really embraced the decision as final. Now that I know we’re actually moving…”
Out along the street, someone had apparently recognized her face in the window and pointed in her direction. This caused a small group to form, people young and old, a father even lifting his young daughter up onto his shoulders for a better look. A few tried to come a bit closer toward their object of worship, but instead dropped to their knees in solemn prayer. Apparently Miyabi hadn’t been joking about that part. Letting the curtain fall back into place, Airi wondered if any of the others received similar reactions when they looked out at the crowd. Looking back at Reina, whose face was unusually unreadable, she wondered if she had her answer.
“It’ll be all right,” Reina said. “Besides, with what you can do, wouldn’t it be good to get out and do a little something with it, even if all that’s involved is learning math?” She finished with a smile.
“That’s what everyone’s been telling me,” Airi responded. “I suppose it’s time to grow up a little.” She took a few steps toward the table before looking up again into Reina’s face, which was still smiling. “Still, I sometimes wonder why even all of you treat me like you do. It seems like nothing is decided until I’ve given my approval…”
“Someone’s gotta be the executive,” Reina said, finally pushing herself up from the chair. “You’re the most powerful,” she continued as if what she was saying was nothing more than natural. “Besides,” she went on, leaning over to pat Airi on the shoulder, “None of the rest of us wants to do it.” Then with a smile, she left as well.
“Sometimes I think Miya at least is stronger…” she protested softly to herself, knowing that whatever the case, there apparently was nothing she was able to do about it.
She wandered out into the hall feeling useless, despite Reina’s “executive” talk. Miyabi was helping Ai and Risa in their transition back to the school, something which still seemed so strange to her having come full circle. Maimi was, at least at the moment, doing the same, and Reina… well, as for that, she didn’t want to wonder too much about where she had gone.
As she passed one of the open doors that voices were coming out of, she stopped to smile inside. Chinami, Yurina, Yuuka and Aika were talking, all four of them seeming to have a good time, which made Airi especially happy since Yuuka at least had been very quiet since that day. Not that she could blame her – Airi knew full well what it was like to have caused grief to others, though at least everyone Yuuka had gotten to was still living. Then again, her friend…
However, when Aika caught a glance of her at the door, the others caught on quickly and the conversation fell silent. “Hello,” Airi said brightly to her old friend and the other girls she’d come to know more lately.
“Hi,” the others responded after a second. Even Aika looked too insecure to speak up before the others.
“Did something happen?” Chinami asked. “We heard you called a meeting. You guys were in there a while, weren’t you?” The others nodded in eagerness at the question.
Airi’s smile didn’t change, but inside her emotions fell a bit more into sadness. No “Hi Airi! How are you?” or “Did you hear? I just spotted Tanaka-san with…” …No. Even someone as close to her as Aika was only interested in business, only interested in what she had to say as their leader. Whoever really was the most powerful, she was the one they all looked to for some reason. It was true these weren’t the girls she’d been as close with lately, since they all had supported the Circle, but still…
“Yes,” she said, trying to scrounge up some excitement. “In fact some exciting news – we’re moving!”
“Moving?” Yuuka spoke up, seemingly surprising even herself with her question and quickly blushing.
Chinami’s face however fell slightly. “That’s good and all, but I thought I might be finally making some progress helping everyone get along here… If we go to the palace, I’m afraid everyone will be separated so much, not to mention in awe of everything, that we’ll go back to how we were before. That is, if everyone can even come…”
“We’re not going to the palace,” Airi responded, her smile now becoming more genuine. Chinami quirked a curious eyebrow. “We’re going back to school.”
The girls stared at her.
“But school is boring…” Yurina said in a bland voice. “How can you expect us to go back to something so… so… normal, after what’s happened? I mean, I wasn’t crazy about the palace either, but…” Somehow, Airi got the impression that the palace suddenly looked a whole lot better… to all of them.
The comment took Airi slightly off-guard as it was from a perspective she hadn’t considered yet – the thought would never enter her mind on its own will of school being boring – but her smile quickly returned. “Not this school,” she promised. “We’re going back to Seishin,” she said, and the pronouncement caused the mood to shift slightly again.
“But… didn’t Seishin kind of get destroyed…?” Aika asked timidly.
“…Plus, it’s still school…” Yurina added.
“Yes,” Airi agreed with her old friend’s comment, “And no. Well, it’s still school, but I have a feeling it’ll be a bit different from what we’re all used to. Takahashi-san and Niigaki-san will be Headmistresses.”
Their eyes widened as they began to comprehend what it would mean having at least one Headmistress with… unique… powers. Then Aika spoke up again… making Airi feel worse again. “Oh wow! And of course then you and Miya and Reina will be school leaders, right?!”
Seriously, could anyone not think of her as anything but a leader, for just once? “Maybe…” Airi said. “I don’t know. Ai and Risa haven’t filled us in on all their plans yet. For all I know there might be no student leaders at all.”
“I’m sure you will be,” Chinami said, looking to the others as they all nodded in agreement. “I mean, if Takahashi-san and Niigaki-san will actually run the school, you have to have at least as important a post.” She said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world and a given. Airi sighed.
“We’ll see,” was all she said.
“Thank you for the news, Airi-sama!” Yuuka burst out suddenly, somehow even showing excitement now as well, and the four girls bowed slightly to her.
However, Airi barely noticed it as she began walking woodenly in a slight daze down the hall once more. Airi-sama… That was all she needed, was for that to get around… even the odd combination of first name and honorific didn’t help matters…
Deciding it would now be best to seek somewhere she could be alone, she climbed the stairs up toward her room, doing her best to ignore the other doors she walked past where sound came from within. That wasn’t too hard, since the conversation within each one she passed began to die down as if everyone was intrinsically aware of her presence.
When she reached her room she closed the door heavily behind her, and was about to flop down onto the bed before she saw someone was already huddled up there. “Oh, I’m sor-” she began, before breaking off suddenly. “…Chisa?”
Jerking slightly as if just awoken from a sleep, Chisato looked up at her with a red face, her eyes still swollen from an obvious lengthy cry. Airi quickly sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her, helping her sit up. “Thanks…” Chisato said in a weak voice, sniffing still.
“What’s the matter?” Airi asked in a distressed voice, thoughts of just about everything else fleeing her head. “You look horrible.”
“Nothing…” Chisato said, rubbing her eye. “It’s nothing. Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep on your bed.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Airi said quickly. “And don’t give me that about ‘nothing’ either,” she continued in a slightly scolding motherly voice. “Your eyes are as red as if you’ve been up here crying all afternoon.”
At her comment, Chisato’s eyes glazed over slightly and fixed on some spot off in space in front of her before beginning to moisten up slightly again.
“Oh I’m sorry…” Airi instantly apologized in a much softer tone, leaning over to hug her friend tighter, burying her head into her shoulder. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No…” Chisato said distantly. “It’s all right. You’re right. I have been in here crying all afternoon…”
Airi didn’t know what to say to that. She’d said that as an exaggeration, and hadn’t actually believed she’d been here that whole time. If that was the case, something was much worse than she first thought.
“Chisa…” she said in now a barely audible gentle voice. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Chisato said, patting Airi on the shoulder. “It’s just something stupid.”
“It can’t be that stupid if it drove you up here to cry all afternoon…” Airi said, trying to make her voice as tender as possible to dull the effect of the words.
“No, it really is,” Chisato said. “It’s something I should have known a long time ago.”
“Oh,” Airi said, feeling that it was now time to be generally quiet and listen to whatever her friend felt like saying.
“It’s just… I guess I fooled myself into believing something was there when it obviously wasn’t…”
“Mhm,” Airi nodded in understanding.
“I guess I really am a Skull, aren’t I Osuzu?”
“Why do you say that?” Airi asked curiously.
Her friend’s eyes became distant again. “I went with her just like anyone else would… I just followed my emotions on the spur of the moment…”
Ah, so that’s what this was concerning. “Do you regret it?” Airi asked softly.
Chisato thought a moment. “No,” she replied finally, nodding her head with certainty. “It was still a wonderful experience. I wouldn’t take it back for anything.” She turned her head to face Airi. “But that makes me like them, doesn’t it?”
“Do you feel that you’re like them?” Airi asked, not sure exactly which ‘them’ the girl was talking about.
Chisato looked away again. “Maybe. I mean, I passed their tests to become a Skull, right? That must mean I think similarly to them in some way.” Airi nodded slowly. “As for this… maybe I’m too young to think the way they do about it. I still believe in love too much…” She blushed lightly upon finishing.
Airi thought a minute herself. She wasn’t really much older than Chisato herself, and she thought she knew what she wanted as far as that went. Her experiences today with Maimi bubbled up into her memory. Thought she knew…
No, she knew. She knew she loved Maimi, no matter what was going on between the two of them lately, and so her friend was capable of it too. She made a mental commitment to try and be truer to herself from now on as well.
“Are you attracted to any other girl?” she asked finally.
Chisato looked at her strangely for a moment, and not a bit uncomfortably, before responding, “Not really… Maybe Shige-san I guess…”
Airi nearly giggled at that. “Well then you’re hopeless,” she said jovially. “If you think even she’s pretty…”
Chisato stared at her with slightly wide eyes. “You don’t think she is?”
Airi finally raised her head from the girl’s shoulder and rapped her sharply on the side of the head. “It was a joke, silly,” she said. Chisato’s eyes dawned in comprehension, and she leaned over to playfully nudge Airi with her shoulder.
“I think you like her,” Airi said, returning to the original subject and making Chisato become still again. “I mean, really like her. So… what happened that made you cry?”
Chisato closed her eyes, as if then she could say what she was going to more easily. “I know I do…” she responded. “I wouldn’t have cried this much any other way. She…” Her voice broke slightly as she spoke, and Airi lowered her head to her shoulder again, hugging her encouragingly. “I saw her in one of the bedrooms… She and Mano-san… They were…”
“It’s okay,” Airi said, hugging her closer. She’d said enough. Airi thought to herself what she would do in a similar situation if it was Maimi, or even Miyabi… although she thought she wouldn’t have a problem if the latter ended up being Risako. “Have you talked with her?” she asked after a time.
“I’ve tried…” Chisato replied. “It always seemed like she was trying to avoid me though.”
Airi nodded to herself. It had finally become clear to her. “Talk to her,” she said. “Tell her how you feel.”
“But…” Chisato responded hesitantly, “What about Mano-san? I can’t just…”
Airi laid a finger to her friend’s lips. “You know what kind of girl Reina is, right?” she asked seriously. Chisato nodded. “Yet you like her despite it, don’t you?” A pause this time, but Chisato nodded again. “So right now she’s doing nothing completely out of the ordinary for her. That means you should treat now the same as any other time, doesn’t it? She’s not yours now – she lives her own life, the life you’ve come to like and want to be a part of. If she becomes yours things must change, but for now… You see what I’m saying?”
She slowly withdrew her finger from her friend’s lips, and Chisato looked carefully back into her face before finally responding, “I guess that’s just what it’s like being in love with a Skull, isn’t it?” Chisato asked in her quietest voice yet.
Airi smiled sadly. “Yes… I’m afraid it is. But I can guarantee you it’s worth it. Besides, you’re a Skull yourself don’t you forget,” she said, poking her stomach. “So things can’t get much more exciting for her either.”
Chisato gave her an odd look at that. “Naw, that’s not true,” she said. Airi just smiled and pulled her down, hugging her close as they lay back on her pillow. Eventually Chisato rolled her head back to face her again. “…Is it?” she asked in a very shy voice.
Airi tapped her finger on the girl’s nose, making it scrunch slightly. “Of course it is, silly. I bet you’ll be surprised when you find out how much you rock her world.”
Chisato blushed deeply at that and turned again before snuggling back into Airi. The two of them began breathing evenly, and Airi felt that soon she would fall asleep. She thought doing so early might not be a bad idea actually, because she had a feeling that from now on, she would have a hard time sleeping at all.
“Osuzu, you know…?” Chisato said softly, just above a whisper.
“Mmm?” Airi mumbled in response.
“You’re a good friend.”
Airi smiled, squeezing the girl slightly, and after a moment responded herself in what really was a whisper, even though it was right behind the other’s ear, “You are too.”
At that moment, despite how everyone else had been acting toward her, she wasn’t sure if she could have been more content.
-
oh ...
airi a feeling for miyabi ...
there are followers of miya and airi ...
be happy ...
Congratulations to those who love the love of miyabi and airi alli this ...
oh ...
airi recalling the loving relationship she had with miyabi ...
is that airi still has feelings for Miyabi ...
orale ...
and maimi entire meeting remained jealous ... oh..........
maimi jealous of miyabi.......oh...... good........
...
poor chisa and poor maimi...........
Maimi still suffering ....
those who love to see suffer to Maimi will be happy too.
with this ...
I just want to see you suffer airi ....
I was surprised I finish writing his chapter coming soon!
the others will enjoy its history congratulations ...
Congratulations on your new chapter and. ..
it is nice to see the great friendship of Chisa and airi ...
Airi take this decisions thanks to Chisato.
Tanaka should be pleased with Chisato.
Tanaka winner
Tanaka has to be jumping for joy!
uM ...
I'm sorry ...
not read the chapter
correctly...
I did not concentrate well.
forgiveness for the post and edit.
:byebye: :byebye:
:byebye: :byebye:
-
Chapter 2 – Celebrity
Airi tapped her fingers impatiently on the table as she stared between her two companions, the tapping intruding into an otherwise uncomfortable silence among the three of them. Maimi as well shared her attention between her two former enemies, seemingly unsure which she should give more to, but upon looking at each her face adopted completely opposite emotions. Miyabi, for her part, reclined lazily in her chair filing at her fingernails as if there was nobody else in the room, but all the same did not speak.
Awk....warrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd. :-X
*MIYABI/AIRI/MAIMI DRAMATICS*
*meow!*
:scared:
“Sorry to keep you waiting!!” Ai said, hurrying in the door dragging a somewhat breathless-looking Risa behind her. Unlike Reina apparently paying no attention to the mood of the room, they took two of the vacant seats between Airi and Maimi. “We were putting the finishing touches on our proposal.”
“I can guess what kind of proposal that would be…” Reina said, now smirking herself.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees........proposal. :pimp:
“Are you two, um… together now or something?” Risa asked, looking apprehensively at the pair.
This time they both almost broke into laughter. “You see,” Miyabi responded. “That’s a funny story…”
“…Which we do not have the time to hear right now!” Airi broke in, feeling her face flushing slightly once again.
Oi! I wanna hear! :wave:
“We also can’t stay in this house forever, and with the events of today, I think it’s about time we leave.”
“Kanpai to that,” Miyabi said, producing a glass from somewhere and raising it to gesture before taking a sip. Airi didn’t want to wonder too much at the brown liquid it held.
Miyabi = :cheers
Others = :?
Why do I have the feeling that Miyabi is somehow related to Yuko? :lol:
“But it seems like you’re still not crazy about the palace itself, are you?” Ai asked, eyes attentive on Airi. “Or the rest of us, for that matter…” she continued, pointedly avoiding a glance to Miyabi.
“It still scares the hell out of me, honestly…” Airi admitted after a moment. “I just can’t shake the feeling that if we go there, we’ll feel like we don’t belong…” Not to mention she wasn’t looking forward to how they would treat her there.
That's reasonable to believe. If it was just them, then it probably wouldn't be as much of an issue. But the thing is, it's NOT just them. They're also bringing along all the other girls that are currently at the house. To be responsible for the well-being of all of them is daunting, to say the least.
“What if we could leave here and go somewhere safe, yet not the palace?” Ai asked after a moment, obviously hiding her excitement as she and Risa looked on at the others.
Airi sighed. “That would definitely be nice.”
If such a place existed...it'd probably be less intimidating than the concept of staying in the imperial palace. :yep:
*MIYABI FALLS OFF CHAIR*
XD
Miyabi slowly picked herself off the floor, gazing steadily at Reina the whole time, and resetting her chair settled back in.
...
The not unfriendly glare she was giving Reina seemed to convey to Airi, who thought she knew the girl well enough by now, that somehow the girl would pay later. Know the girl she might though, she wasn’t quite sure what was going on between the two of them at the moment. Some things were better kept a mystery, she decided in the end.
:twisted:
*TAKAGAKI'S PROPOSAL*
Well now...interesting. :O
Assuming that the campus is no longer crawling with cops, it COULD actually be a good place for them. It definitely sounds like it'd have enough room for everyone. And it IS/WAS a private school, after all, so it's not like there's a school board committee somewhere that's deciding on whether the school opens or closes.
Ai stared quietly back at her. “You know I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you reading my mind like that. I’m surprised you’re not a step ahead of me at every moment.”
Miyabi suddenly smiled. “When there are billions of people’s thoughts in your head, it gets tiring sometimes focusing on one for long. Besides, you’re not usually interesting enough to bother seeking out. Usually…” she said, grinning, and the two girls across from her blushed slightly.
It's like Miyabi's got her own private AV channel in her head. :rofl: :hump:
I’m really rather amazed we’ve stayed as protected as we’ve been in this house.”
Miyabi coughed softly at that. “Actually… that’s partly because of me…” she said, drawing all eyes. “After all those journalists came at the beginning, I set a shield around the edges of the yard to make anyone who thought of trying to come through it suddenly lose their memory, and so they end up just wandering away…”
Airi and Risa both gasped at that, though the others, including Ai and Maimi, just looked at the girl levelly.
NICE!!!
:on lol:
“How could you!” Risa exclaimed.
Hey, it worked, didn't it? She did exactly what the girls needed to be done, which was keep them from hoards of public exposure. :thumbsup
“…I’m kidding…” Miyabi said, giving Airi a strange look. Airi frowned back. “In reality they just feel the urge to drop down and pray until they forget why they came there. Just that – that’s all. That’s why you see so many praying people out on the street.” She glanced to a wall as if she could see the people behind it, which Airi supposed she probably could. “But then, not everyone kneeling out there has tried to come closer…”
THAT'S EVEN BETTER!!!
:wahaha:
*REINA-MIYABI FLIRTY MOMENTS*
Okay, there's got to be more going on here than the two of them just being hump-buddies.
(not that there's anything wrong with that, of course)
“We’re not going to the palace,” Airi responded, her smile now becoming more genuine. Chinami quirked a curious eyebrow. “We’re going back to school.”
The girls stared at her.
“But school is boring…” Yurina said in a bland voice.
Typical teenage reaction. :P
“But… didn’t Seishin kind of get destroyed…?” Aika asked timidly.
“…Plus, it’s still school…” Yurina added.
Oh, gotta love Yurina's moments here.
:hee:
*EMO-CHISATO PART*
:pen_cry:
“Are you attracted to any other girl?” she asked finally.
Chisato looked at her strangely for a moment, and not a bit uncomfortably, before responding, “Not really… Maybe Shige-san I guess…”
Airi nearly giggled at that. “Well then you’re hopeless,” she said jovially. “If you think even she’s pretty…”
Powers or not, Airi had better hope that Sayu doesn't find out that she said that.
:kekeke:
I bet you’ll be surprised when you find out how much you rock her world.
Okay, cheering her up is one thing, but you don't want to be getting her hopes TOO high now.
“Osuzu, you know…?” Chisato said softly, just above a whisper.
“Mmm?” Airi mumbled in response.
“You’re a good friend.”
Airi smiled, squeezing the girl slightly, and after a moment responded herself in what really was a whisper, even though it was right behind the other’s ear, “You are too.”
At that moment, despite how everyone else had been acting toward her, she wasn’t sure if she could have been more content.
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...:oops:
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Aww, Seishin. I was hoping to see the return of that school. Excluding the craziness that went on in the prequel, Seishin seemed like a comfy school, so it would be nice for them to get that enviorment back :P
Risako is definitely right to be having doubts about getting with Miyabi. Reina and Miya's interactions during that meeting were eye raising (maybe they were joking? but still..) Anways, Miya seemed like she would be faithful to Risako just like she was with Airi.
The Chisa/Airi talk was cute. Chisa should try talking to Reina again. Definitely not ManoEri since I feel that it would kinda be awkard for them XD
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whoo update, that was kinda' 'woah!'
At least it's better going back to seishin than going to some palace where people kinda' just stare at you. =T
the chisa/airi talk was so cute, typical friend kinda' thing i <3 it.
I kinda' predict that in future chapters there will probably be some miya/risako drama.
I mean with the way miya/reina acted towards each other..=T
just kinda' like hnnn..
UPDATE Rokun, update o(=A=ll)o
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Had to re-read your first one to remember what was going on. XD
I like how you woven Japanese mythology with the plot. I'm assuming we'll be seeing more about the legend told earlier in the first part and how Junjun and Linlin (China) is related to Airi and them?
I think going back to Seishin (or every time I see, I think of seishun ;)) will be good for all of them.
I want to see more Takagaki! :P
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Miyabi is fun and cruel in this chapter!
She knows perfectly well as annoy Maimi.
but it makes me happy to see a more tranquil character in Maimi.
Maimi already controls more your character.
But Miyabi is a fucking ... XD hehehe known to say... XD
It's fun and funny the relationship between Maimi and Miyabi. XD
but it is also fun to see the relationship between Tanaka and Maimi ... XD
I love the character of Maimi, the character of Tanaka and the character of Miyabi! is so fun and interesting to read them!
Maimi and Tanaka have conflicts because they are proud and strong character! XD :) :lol:
Ai-chan and Niigaki are so nice !!!!!
I also think that Tanaka, Miyabi and Maimi will grab kicks and blows.
There is much tension in them!
*********************a fun idea*********************
I would like to see drunk to Tanaka.
And, as Tanaka is one messes problems. and Maimi accidentally stumbles with Tanaka. And Maimi and Tanaka were beaten by a bunch of rockers to walk into motorcycle hohoho.
After Tanaka insists on going to a bar and can not leave alone, because if left alone to Tanaka in the state of intoxication that remains Tanaka ...
It is wrong to let a Tanaka drunk alone... ... can do a lot of crazy things .... and into many problems.
Maimi think of the condition that this Tanaka y. ..
Decides to remain with Tanaka.
Tanaka is already drunk and begins to seduce a lot of girls.
Tanaka speaks to girl and said that Accompany to Maimi.
Tanaka defy to Maimi to take wine hohoho ...
Then Maimi imposed not to take alcoholic drinks, and starts to have fun with the girls too!
And suddenly!
reach the bar
AIRI , MIYABI, Chisato, YUUKA AND RISAKO. KOWAIIIIIII!!!!
And Miyabi reprimands to Tanaka and Maimi by not inviting the bar.
And Risako you pull one ear to Miyabi.
***************end of the fun idea ************************
Well this will remove the tension and indifference between Tanaka and Yajima. :P :D
Although there were some parts that not I liked!.
Other parts I loved!
Another part that I liked a lot is the great friendship that exists between Chisato and Airi!
Yuuka and Maimi have not been found yet, nor have they had any conversation ...
and yet I see not a jealous airi of yuuka ...
I compare a chance friendship between Maimi and Miyabi Friendly and would be a heavy and harsh.
A friendship of Maimi and Miyabi serious fun!
blows and beatings, mockery and ridicule.
Tanaka, Maimi and Miyabi, the relationship of them is so intense and fun! xD xD
And I am amused to see Airi concerned about the relationship of Maimi, Miya and Tanaka! xD xD
NEXT CHAPTER!!!!!!
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Ok, a bit late, but replies to the comments on chapter 1 as well as those posted so far for chapter 2! If you haven't commented on 2 yet don't worry though. :) Keep it up! I just thought I might as well go ahead and respond to those so far now. :)
Chapter 1 comments
Maimi_Yajima: Interesting point of the dichotomy between sweet girls and attractive girls. :) I suppose there really is that sort of difference between them. Reina is a... rather flighty character. XD I wonder though... Why really does she do the things she does? Also... you mentioned something about nobody suffering except Chisato... You've read me long enough. You know how I don't make life easy for these girls. ;) Good point about the villains too, and that gives me the opportunity to talk a bit about the story in general.
While this is definitely a sequel to Circle of Three, I intend to make the focus a little different. CoT was very plot-driven - the idea of Skulls vs. Circle was set up very early on, and most things that happened revolved around that conflict and the battles that arose within it. In this one you can be sure such conflict will happen as well (you can probably tell that from the title), but the focus is going to be more on the characters and their relationships, whether friends, lovers, or enemies. I hope to have the overarching plot as more of a backdrop, but we'll see how it progresses. :) In any case, that's why such a plot hasn't really come clear yet (except perhaps for a hint or two) - right now I'm trying to establish the characters more in-depth. After chapter 2 you might be able to see more direction forming in the story... it'll happen... if a bit slowly for now at least. :)
mode: It would be interesting to see Chisato become like Reina, wouldn't it? XD Though after chapter 2, I'm not sure if that's gonna happen. Still... she hasn't talked to Reina yet...
sbk: otsukaresama! :) Take it easy if you're so tired out! Hopefully the stories here give you some kind of relaxation at least. :)
Loser: Thanks for the commenting! It feels special to have the attention of a mod like that. ;) As for the Miya-Risako lurve... mmm... There's more to come, but for some reason I'm not sure if it'll be as big a focus in this story. We'll see how it turns out. :) You know I won't be able to leave Miya at least alone too much...
maize: It's always great to see the input of such a diehard Miya fan! :D Since I would call Miya my favorite girl now, I'm sure I have an interesting way of writing her... I usually tend to to that with those I like most... though as you know they aren't always good things. XD Hopefully you get a good bit more of a taste of Miya in chaper 2, though not much happens as far as her and Risako. :) Except for things that might make people suspicious... lol. Also, as for Miya teleporting out to get food, yes she could do that, but unless she just goes to their parents anyway (which the parents like to come check up on their now-famous daughters), they'd need money as well. XD Which they don't have. I suppose being famous like they are they could go see if people would just give them stuff... but some of the girls already gave their ideas on that. ;)
Chapter 2 comments
JFC: lol @ your reaction to Miyabi's explanations about her shield. XD I suppose there's a certain bit of irony in it, isn't there? What is going on between Miyabi and Reina anyway? Airi at least doesn't even want to know...
mode: Your comment is a little confusing. XD You talk about Risako having doubts about Miyabi in relation to how Miya's acting with Reina... then go on to say "well I think Miya will treat her well like she did Airi". She was pretty serious about Airi, wasn't she? Again, this comes back to that question of what's going on between her and Reina. :twisted: For example, for all we've heard about Reina, there's been suspiciously little heard about Miya even though she seems to act the same way a lot... Then again, if you remember back to the first story (and especially some comments by Miki), the two of them are naturally different in some basic ways.
Loser: Also suspicious about Miya and Reina, eh? XD Risako's definitely going to have a new experience in handling that... she's never quite known someone who has that kind of other relationship...
Fenrir: Yay! Welcome to the story! :D Glad to see you around more lately. I hope you enjoy it from now on, and yes, you can expect more mythological elements to come into the story later on. Think of something like... Curse of the Dragon King. ;) (If you know what I'm talking about) As you can see, those might come in, but they may not necessarily be true to history like some things in the last story were. XD This is where we'll see my creative ability being tested in how these things unfold. :P
Maimi_Yajima: I'm glad you just misread a bit the first time. I was a little surprised by that first comment of yours. ^^;; Just take your time and relax and read from now on. :) Though I know what it's like if something happens to your favorite that seems a bit off... Like I said before, this story will be more about relationships, so some of what you say will definitely come through... but you can also bet it'll be complex, so hopefully you'll understand everything as well. :) That goes for everyone!
Whew! Ok now it should be time for some other stuff... but thanks everyone for reading up until now. :)
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Miyabi shrugged. “Didn’t think so, or else something must be wrong with your eyesight cause Airi over there is just about ready to jump me here and now.”
yay! i was just like....nice retort miya... :hehehe: she was acting like miki....oh, loving how build her character!
whoa! no!reina and miya.....they're acting like sluts....yadda, yadda! :tantrum: and why is it they're holding hands,,,,grr...
Miya and rii-chan....please....... well, maybe a little airi and miya too..... :luvluv2:
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Loser: Thanks for the commenting! It feels special to have the attention of a mod like that. As for the Miya-Risako lurve... mmm... There's more to come, but for some reason I'm not sure if it'll be as big a focus in this story. We'll see how it turns out. You know I won't be able to leave Miya at least alone too much...
Rokun you're such a loser by saying that XD
Anyway, I figured the story would be more centralized around Airi since she's the main, main character.
But I figured you know Miyabi being as important her drama would be sorta' big too lol.
You can see the miya/rii love in me and how much i want it every H!P kids story XD.
but as I said, I expect major drama on miyabi's side and a bit on Reina's story too. =T
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I like the little Miya/Maimi fight at the beginning. :lol: Poor Airi is all caught in the middle, trying to stop them. I freakin cracked up when Miya asked Airi to have sex with her!!!! :lol: Since when did Reina and Miya become so....together-ish?! :P I can't help but agree at how awkward it would be for all the girls to be at the palace. I mean, some of them maybe be the descendants of gods but they are still a bunch of young girls. I think TakaGaki's idea is pretty good. Seishin is a big enough place that all the girls can have a bed to sleep in but still be all together. As for continuing the school, I'm not sure how that's gonna turn out. But I'm excited for them.
Man, Airi's gained a lot of respect and power but at the same time has pretty much lost the remainder of her youth. She really has no choice but to grow up and take charge. It must suck to not be able to talk with her old friends again b/c they are sort of intimidated by her.
Chisa~~~~~ :heart: Airi is such a great friend to her. I hope Reina can see that Chisa really loves and cares about her and will at least give her a chance. But Airi is right; they aren't dating or anything so at this point, Reina can do whatever/whoever she wants.
Great update~ :heart:
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Ah! :shock:
I had not read their responses to our comments! :whistle:
Gomene!!
eh state distracted! :depressed:
Ah! and thank you for your answers! :hee: :hee:
Well. :kekeke:
I love the style of Tanaka. :wriggly: :wriggly:
I love to Tanaka! :wriggly:
She is fun! and I love the personality of her!! :nya: :on drink: :mon cigar:
I like the way in that you develop the characters. :mon innocent:
You are able to immerse themselves in them! :mon inluv:
And this is so nice of read! :mon thumb: :mon lovelaff:
So the reader enjoys reading about the characters! :mon fyeah: :on study:
Thanks! :hee: :hee:
This to me keeps me alive in the reading! :mon gamer: :mon gamer: :mon gamer: :mon squee: :mon sundae:
It's so interesting to read about the characters! :glasses:
View the attitudes, behaviors and thoughts of the characters favorite for us! :luvluv1: :stuffed:
DOMO ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU!!! :shy2: :shy2:
view this type of characters with a good development and a good personality is so interesting to read! so exciting! :whistle: :wriggly:
go to the side of your character. :mon scooter: :mon scooter:
read their thoughts in the texts and read their lines. :mon fyeah: :mon fyeah:
It's fun! :gmon twirl:
It appears that you love to write. :mon cute: :mon innocent:
That is remarkable in his writings!
because their characters have a lot of presence! :mon angel: :mon inluv:
They have a lot presence the characters in its history. :gmon bang:
Tanaka is unique!!
Airi is unique!!
Maimi is unique!
Miyavi is unique!!
Ai-chan is unique!
but ... :on cloudeye:
just one thing ... :kneelbow: :kneelbow:
I would like to see more personality and character of Maimi. :prayers:
I would like to know more of Maimi Yajima in its history. :shy2: :mon prayer:
It would be a great pleasure to know more of Maimi Yajima. :mon fyeah:
A great pleasure! :gmon sing:
Let me do it! :gmon bang:
please! :mon pray2:
let me know! :mon pray2:
will be a pride for me. nE??? :gmon peakaboo: :gmon nya:
And congratulations on making a character so interesting as Tanaka! :gmon nya:
I hope it will Maimi be very interesting his personality and character. :gmon tears:
Since you did not reveal much of her. :gmon twirl:
Well ...
I'm very demanding with the stories hehehe ...
I am accustomed to reading great books.
Harry Potter, Eragon, Dracula, The Lord of the Rings Twilight and so on.
And MANGAS of CLAMP.
"X" , "Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles" "Tokyo Babylon" "xxxHOLIC" and so on.!
Sorry for being so demanding ...
Gamabare and good luck with the next chapter! :gmon flowers:
See you Later!!!!!! :gmon hi: :gmon hi:
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Sorry about the wait for the update. >_< Finals made things busy, and then I got in my normal "beginning of vacation gaming phase". Then again, I did post three chapters of another story in the meantime too. XD I hope some people are still reading this. This chapter focuses mostly on some either new or thus far not very represented characters, so you might think it a little different. :) That doesn't mean important things don't happen though... so read closely! Onegaishimasu. :)
Chapter 3 – Suki Sugite, Baka Mitai
“Yuukarin, I really think we shouldn’t be up here…” Aika said as she clutched nervously at the arm of a girl whose curiosity had almost doomed her once before, yet she still couldn’t stop it from rising up again.
“She’s your friend, isn’t she?” Yuuka asked. “I wouldn’t think even someone like you would be so concerned about just dropping by her room.” Even though she said it as if it was a casual thing, she herself was almost terrified being up here, but as was the case most nights, she wanted to be sure the girl was alone. There were things she feared worse than being caught snooping around.
“Yes she’s my friend, but…” Aika protested as Yuuka managed to prod the door slightly open. The room was dark, so the dim slant of light from the hall was all she had to discern who was in there. She waited as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, but realized she had to push the door open a bit further to be able to see anything at all.
Aika now cast nervous glances back down the hall. “If someone catches us here…” She shuddered. “Especially Tanaka-san, or Natsuyaki-san…”
Yuuka tried to push her own heart back down in her chest as it had risen nearly to her throat when the girl mentioned those names. “I think Natsuyaki-san is still gone to the school, and as for the other…” She didn’t fill in the rest of the unnecessary words.
Finally she could discern the still form on the bed, but something else she noticed made her chest constrict. The girl wasn’t alone. She craned her neck as far as she could as if that would help her see, but the front form she recognized blocked the other completely from view except for a dim silhouette.
“What is it?” Aika asked in barely a whisper, apparently giving up in her scrutiny of the hall and peering tentatively over her shoulder.
“There’s someone in there with her,” Yuuka whispered back, and she felt the pressure relieve against her back.
“All right, that’s it,” Aika said firmly, as if having come to a decision. “I’ve had enough of this. It’s risky enough trying to go into her bedroom, but if she has someone with her… There are things I don’t want or need to know. Will you come with me?”
“Just a second,” Yuuka said, peering as hard as she could at the dark shapes on the bed. Having assumed the worst, something didn’t seem quite right about what she saw. “Does she have any other close friends?” she asked, but when there was no response she looked back to see an empty hallway.
The girl had deserted her. Realizing she was now alone so near the sleeping form of their sleeping leader and her bedmate, she realized what the girl had been telling her of how foolish an adventure this was. If she was caught here…
But she had to know…
She squinted back into the room, and realized why things looked different than she expected. The girl on the far side of the bed was halfway curled up, but it was still obvious that she was shorter than the one blocking most of her from view. Quite a bit shorter, in fact. Finally Yuuka pulled back and drew the door softly shut, sighing in relief.
When she began creeping carefully back down the hall, she pondered momentarily on the obsession that had almost driven her mad before, and even now that she felt like she was adjusting and able to talk more at least, couldn’t seem to shake totally. Well, it wouldn’t hurt just to keep an eye on the girl at times like these, wouldn’t it? It wasn’t like she was stalking her all the time… The thought was almost crazy in itself to her. She might as well stalk a viper that was staring her right in the eyes.
She slouched slightly as she made it to the stairs and began climbing down. And anyway, it wasn’t like she had any hope of things turning out differently. She saw the way the two of them looked at each other – even when they were angry, it was like nothing else existed. She sighed. In that small respect at least, she so dearly wished she was Airi Suzuki.
She looked around idly for Aika, wondering where the girl had gone. As she’d passed bedrooms, she heard the soft murmurs of sleep from within many of them this late at night, but Aika had been wide awake, so she doubted she had gone to bed yet. When she reached the main floor, she heard some talk from one of the smaller sitting rooms, and when she toed carefully to the entrance, smiled before going in herself.
“You guys are up late!” she said, causing at least one of the girls seated on the floor in a small circle to jump.
“What’s the problem, Aya-chan?” Kanon asked, smiling back at Yuuka as she came to join them. “It’s just Yuukarin.”
“But it’s late at night…” the taller girl protested, looking embarrassed. “Who knows what could be lurking out in the dark!”
The third girl in the circle giggled. “With Suzuki-san and Yajima-san and Takahashi-san here to protect us?” Akari asked jovially as Yuuka sat to join them. “This is probably the safest place in the country, especially right now…”
There was a short silence as the girl’s words made the others think of what most of the country was like at the moment after the storm, which they’d heard was caused by Takahashi-san, although they couldn’t believe she would do something so mean. However, at the same time they were impressed at the power it would have taken to do something like that, and still believed, despite the others’ insistence, that she was stronger than Suzuki-san. Suzuki-san was just so… young… around their age in fact. Not that it made them respect her any less now…
“Still…” Ayaka continued to protest, “Takahashi-san’s gone now! And Natsuyaki-san too!”
Yuuka nodded in understanding. Unlike the rest of them, who only knew the real capabilities of the former Circle, Yuuka had seen first-hand what Natsuyaki-san could do, along with Tanaka-san… though her abilities seemed to be of a different nature. Still, healing powers like she possessed were something Yuuka thought nice to have, although it didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the girl’s image. Suzuki-san was still a mystery to them all, although they’d heard many things, but that in itself only heightened their respect for her.
“There’s still Suzuki-san…” Kanon pressed, not yielding ground and echoing Yuuka’s thoughts. “If anything did happen, I bet she’s all we’d need.”
“She’s sleeping now though,” Yuuka said absently, and the other three turned to stare at her. “What?” she asked, blinking.
“How do you know that?” Akari asked suspiciously.
“I hear she never sleeps,” Ayaka added with wide eyes and a nod. “She doesn’t need it!”
“You all are silly,” Kanon scolded the two. “Of course she sleeps!” She turned to Yuuka. “But she sleeps with her eyes open, so she always knows what’s going on around her.”
Yuuka held back a sigh. She didn’t bother correcting these girls. Whatever they had supposedly done, she knew all too well that their leaders were still human, if exceptional ones. Then again, she had a lot more direct experience with them than they had… Aside from Kanon, the other two had even just arrived at the house the day before.
Her thoughts darkened again as she remembered the first time she came into this house, and the ring of gunshots and Sayaka’s terror-filled face as she was blown out the door to her death filled her mind. They still hadn’t found the girl’s body after the chaos of the storm. Everybody seemed to assume she was washed away somewhere by the floods that had come, but nobody spoke such morbid thoughts aloud.
“Therefore, no monsters are going to come out of nowhere!” Kanon concluded into the lengthening silence. “If she doesn’t catch them, Yajima-san would.” That seemed to settle it for the other three girls. Yuuka was just glad they didn’t press any further about why she knew Suzuki-san was asleep, even though they didn’t seem to believe it.
“So anyway,” Yuuka said, hoping to change the subject. “What are you three doing up so late?”
“We’re too excited to sleep!” Ayaka blurted out, before color flooded her cheeks again and she sat back meekly.
“Yeah,” Kanon said, eyeing Yuuka. “You did hear we’re moving back to Seishin, right? That’s where Takahashi-san, Niigaki-san, and Natsuyaki-san have gone, after all.”
“Yes, of course I heard,” Yuuka said distractedly, still brooding somewhat in her thoughts. The other girls, especially Aika, were doing their best to support her and get her through her extreme guilt and mortification, and today she’d felt the best she had in a long time, but there were still things she didn’t think she’d ever forget.
“I can’t say I’m excited to go back to school again…” Akari said in a hesitant voice, “But at least it’s Seishin, and with Takahashi-san and Niigaki-san leading it, it can’t be too bad.”
“Yeah,” Kanon commented. “At least it’s not going to be Tanaka-san and Natsuyaki-san in charge…” The others nodded in silent agreement, but Yuuka felt something stir within her.
“Don’t talk that way about Tanaka-san,” she said, and the other girls stared at her again. This time she stiffened her resolve though. “She may talk like she couldn’t care less about anyone, but she’s really a good person.” She felt obligated to defend the girl after she’d basically saved her own soul… If it wasn’t for her, Aika at least likely would have died, and she’d have much more than what ended up being just a mad rampage with no solid consequences hanging over her head.
“Yuukarin,” Kanon said, as if trying to be patient with her. “You know those girls. They were known all over the school for their actions. Aya-chan,” she said, nodding at the still meek-looking girl. “They once beat you up and stole your bento, right?” Ayaka nodded, the color that had just been seeping away filling her cheeks once again. “And besides,” she continued, turning back to Yuuka, “You’ve been here the whole time, so probably even know better than us. You’ve heard the things everyone says about the two of them, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Yuuka said quickly, “But I refuse to believe that’s what’s really in their hearts. They helped me when I had almost lost myself… and don’t forget Takahashi-san and Yajima-san now accept that their way, whatever it might have been, was really the best.”
“I’d feel better if Shimizu-san was around to decide too…” Ayaka said in a low voice.
“She was my leader too,” Yuuka said, sympathizing with her old housemate, “But you know what happened to her. That’s even more evidence that the Circle was somehow being led astray…”
The four girls were silent a moment after Yuuka’s words, and she knew they were trying to decide if they could really believe that the girls they’d followed for so long were in the wrong. There was a sound from down the hall as if some others were still up and roaming around too, but the girls ignored it in favor of their current serious discussion.
“I suppose that’s the way of things…” Akari said finally. “If Suzuki-san and… the others… were those who won, and now if Yajima-san and Takahashi-san are willingly following them, we should too… ne?”
Kanon, with a cute pout on her face, looked like she wanted to argue, but eventually just sighed. “I guess I can try to be like Suzuki-san… and maybe even Natsuyaki-san…”
“Hey, I think I hear my name from in there…” came a voice from the hall, and the shuffling steps Yuuka had heard a moment ago came closer to the door until Natsuyaki-san herself appeared, with Takahashi-san and Niigaki-san just behind.
The eyes of the girls within the room had widened at recognition of the voice, and now were as big as saucers as they half came to their feet. Yuuka was the only one that managed to stay seated, though she felt no less nervous.
“Well hey there,” Natsuyaki-san said.
“What are you all doing up so late?” Takahashi-san asked with a bit of a frown.
“We’re sorry!” Ayaka blurted out, bowing ferociously.
“We’ll go to bed soon!” Kanon said, flustered herself and staring at Natsuyaki-san, despite whatever she seemed to think about the girl. “We were just talking about… different things…”
“Including me, huh?” Natsuyaki-san said, folding her arms. The younger girls swallowed nervously.
“How did things go at Seishin?” Yuuka asked, trying her best to stand up without betraying her own anxiety. “You just got back, right Natsuyaki-sama?”
As the girl mouthed the last thing Yuuka said, Takahashi-san nudged her aside gently and stepped forward, smiling. “Things went very well,” she said in what appeared to be a truly excited voice. “It was deserted, as I guess would be expected with nothing going on there and so many crises elsewhere, but the water had mostly receded. It only took a bit of effort to get rid of the rest of the water.”
The four girls looked at her in awe. Even Yuuka was amazed at how casually she could talk about “getting rid of floodwaters” as if it was such a simple thing. “How long do you think it will be before we go back there?” Akari asked, in a voice that Yuuka wasn’t sure whether was eager or not.
“I think it’ll be a while before we can actually reopen the school…” Niigaki-san said slowly.
“But we at least should be able to go back there fairly soon I think,” Takahashi-san continued. “I think it’d be better for us than staying here for the whole time. The space and outdoors would do us well I think. Plus we’d be away from the eyes of people like those outside…”
Natsuyaki-san groaned. “That sounds like a lot of work for me. I take it you’ll need me to take everyone over there? Do you even know how many girls are in this house?”
“Onegaishimasu!” Takahashi-san and Niigaki-san both said, bowing to the third. Natsuyaki-san just sighed, but cast a glance in Yuuka’s direction before going on.
“Well, I’m tired after the work tonight, and I’m sure you two are also. Shall we head to bed? Not that I’ve much to look forward to… I imagine I’ll be stuck on the couch again.”
“The couches are already full I think…” Kanon informed her. “Toku-san and Yurina took one, I think the Chinese girls are in others, and I don’t know about the rest…”
“Well, maybe I can kick someone out. Or maybe I’ll just kick Maimi out of her bed. There’s nothing wrong with her anymore, so she should share in the discomfort along with the rest of us, at least as long as we still have to suffer it.”
“Miya!” Niigaki-san scolded, and Takahashi-san gave her a stern look too, though the Skull seemed to brush off the reprimands as if they were nothing.
Despite their attitudes, there were definitely things that impressed Yuuka about those girls. She knew she couldn’t have stood up to those disapprovals from their senpai. Then again, Natsuyaki-san had powers she could only dream of… even though she wasn’t sure what they were. But seeing what she had done to Sayaka… and having apparently defeated the Circle… After all, she knew that wasn’t all due to what Suzuki-san had done.
“What?” Natsuyaki-san asked in an attempt at innocence. “It’s only fair. Anyway, so yeah.” She turned to the four girls in the room. “Keep your chins up, and uh… study hard, I guess?” With a glance of raised eyebrows at the two with her, she continued on down the hall, to slightly hesitant nods from the younger ones.
“That’s good advice,” Takahashi-san said, still frowning after the Skull before turning to the room as well. “Don’t think we’ll let the teachers go easy on you just because you’ve been here with us.” Before the whining could go on long, she raised a hand that cut it short quickly. “No,” she said, this time with a slight smirk to the corner of her mouth that Yuuka noticed. “You still have a lot to learn to be like us, after all! Anyway, goodnight!” She and Niigaki-san both waved a hand to them before clasping each other’s and heading off in the direction Natsuyaki-san went.
“Like we could ever be like you…” Ayaka mumbled in somehow both a complaining and awed voice, and when the others turned to her she blushed again, causing the rest to giggle softly before they thought better of it.
Yuuka cleared her throat. “Getting to bed is probably a good idea…” she said reluctantly. “If they’re going to make us study, it sounds like we have long days ahead…” The others grumbled their assent and began getting up as if to prepare, since they would likely just sleep on the floor in this room. They just needed blankets.
“Would you like to sleep in here with us tonight?” Kanon asked.
“Maybe,” Yuuka responded distractedly. “But I have a blanket in another room that I’d have to bring.”
The others brightened. “I’m glad we’re all back together again,” Ayaka said softly, smiling around awkwardly at the others.
“Tomorrow we’ll decide what to do from now on, ne?” Kanon asked, and the others nodded, though Yuuka was headed out of the room. “See you soon!” Kanon called after her.
Yuuka walked slowly down the hallway, hoping not to run into Takahashi-san or Niigaki-san again. She did have a blanket to get, but mostly she wanted to find Aika. It was true the three girls she just left were her best friends throughout the whole adventure with the Circle… along with Sayaka, though she didn’t try to think about that much… But since being at the house it was Aika she’d become closest with. She never knew how much of a bond shooting someone could create between two people.
Not seeming able to find her on the first floor, she climbed to the second with the thought of checking some of the bedrooms there, but as she reached the top of the stairs she nearly ran into Natsuyaki-san, who was just leaving one of the washrooms. She froze to a halt, hardly able to meet the intense eyes of the girl before her as they settled on her own, but once they did they only stared at each other a moment.
“Looking for someone?” the Skull finally asked.
Riding the torrent of mixed emotions she felt as she looked into the girl’s face, Yuuka could only stutter a response, “Umm… well, no… I mean, yes…!”
“Yes…” the other girl said, her eyes seeming to bore into Yuuka’s soul. Yuuka only swallowed in fright at her predicament, though couldn’t seem to pick her feet up to move. “You’re looking for someone, but you’re doing your best to give up since you think it’s hopeless.” Yuuka wanted to blink, but somehow couldn’t, causing her eyes to begin burning. “Why do you think that? If you want something, you should take it.”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Yuuka asked.
Suddenly the girl smiled, though it didn’t seem pleasant at all to Yuuka. “You know very well what I’m talking about. It’s why you go upstairs every night just to set yourself at ease. You’re doing a better stalking job than I ever have.” Yuuka’s eyes widened despite the burning. How did the girl know that?! “You know that’s pointless though. Without any effort on your part, things are bound to take their own direction eventually.”
“B-but…” Yuuka stammered again. “It’s impossible! There’s no way I could compete with…” she clamped her mouth shut tight. The last thing she wanted to do was reveal that to this girl! As if she wasn’t in enough trouble already…
“Really?” Natsuyaki-san asked, raising an eyebrow. “I bet you’d be surprised at what’s possible if you just try.” She tapped a finger on Yuuka’s nose, making her flinch. She touched her! She shivered as if she could feel everything the girl was capable of in that touch.
The Skull turned her head to look down the hall toward a door to one of the bedrooms. “She’s still awake, just reading. You should… drop in. After all…” She turned back to the still unblinking Yuuka. “It’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Y-yes…” Yuuka said meekly, and the other smiled.
But just then, another girl came around a bend down the hall. The new arrival blanched once she noticed the two talking, but then quickened her pace to join them.
“Miya!” Risako said, giving the one she spoke to a look of concealed adoration that Yuuka knew all too well in herself. “Fancy finding you up here. I just came out of the washroom.”
“Did you now?” Natsuyaki-san asked, still grinning at Yuuka.
“Mhm,” Risako nodded, and then turned to Yuuka, who had suddenly felt relieved that she might be saved. Apparently seeing something in Yuuka’s expression, Risako’s smile turned slowly to a frown. “You haven’t been harassing her, have you Miya?” she asked. “I told you to stay away from her as much as possible.”
“Harassing? Me?” Natsuyaki-san asked innocently, blinking between the two of them. “Was I harassing you, Yuuka-chan?”
“N-no…” Yuuka lied in a quiet voice.
“See? That settles it.” Stealthily, Yuuka saw the girl snake an arm around Risako’s waist and almost gasped. “So what are you doing still up, anyway? Here I am, just back after a long night, and trying to find somewhere decently comfortable to sleep…”
“I was just about to head to bed myself…” Risako said, gesturing to the long t-shirt she wore over what looked like nothing else but her underwear. “I was able to find a spot on a couch tonight.” She looked up into Natsuyaki-san’s face, Yuuka apparently forgotten again, and a pink flush slowly suffused her cheeks. She also leaned in more to the other girl’s embrace. “If you’re looking for somewhere to sleep, I suppose you could join me on the couch… though with both of us I’m not sure how comfortable it’d be…”
“That sounds as comfortable as anywhere to me,” Natsuyaki-san said with a smile. “Shall we?” And with that, she pulled the other with her to the stairs, looking back at Yuuka just for a moment. “Goodnight to you, too. And don’t forget – nothing is impossible.”
“Goodnight!” Risako called back cheerily as well, though her cheeks were flushed red with what might have been… excitement…? as the two of them disappeared down the stairs.
Yuuka stared after them a moment, before she realized her eyes were still burning and blinked them. Nothing was impossible? What world was the girl from?! Quite a different one than she was, she thought with a grimace. How could she take advice from such a person? Still, somehow she felt a bit jealous of Risako. She’d been fond of the girl ever since she comforted her after that dreadful night, but she was still just as normal as she was. Despite that, being able to catch the eye of someone like Natsuyaki-san…
Her thoughts froze. She was just a regular girl, but apparently seemed to have Natsuyaki-san. Her mind drifted back to the Skull’s words. If that was possible, then why couldn’t…? Before she knew it, her feet were taking her toward the bedroom door the girl had glanced at earlier. What was she doing? Was she insane?! As insane as Risako-chan apparently, who she thought was one of the most grounded girls she knew.
After just seconds, she reached the door. She thought about knocking, but decided against it, instead just pushing it open slowly. The girl had been right – she was there, just sitting in the middle of the bed reading a book that lay in her lap. Apparently she was quiet enough that the other girl didn’t notice at first, and her feet had carried her halfway to the bed before she looked up.
“Yuuka-chan?” Maimi asked, looking rather surprised. The two had hardly spoken since the other girl had awoken. “What are you doing here? And so late!”
“Yajima-san…” Yuuka began, but couldn’t say anything else and instead closed the distance to the bed quickly and sat on the edge facing away from Maimi. Her heart was racing, doki-doki all that was reaching her ears.
“Yuuka?” Maimi asked, this time in a more concerned voice. Above her heartbeat, Yuuka heard the other girl shut her book and shift on the bed. Soon she felt warmer as the girl scooted up just beside her. “Is something wrong?”
“I…” Yuuka began again, holding a hand to her chest to try and hold her heart in. All the events of the past weeks seemed to be crashing through her mind at the same moment, making it hard for her to think, much less talk.
“Yes…?” Maimi asked, and Yuuka felt a cool hand on her arm.
Almost reflexively, Yuuka reached up and grabbed the wrist of that hand, turning to look into the other girl’s face, which glanced down at her hand before looking back up to her.
“Before…” Yuuka began, deciding that she just had to get it out. “Before everything happened, when we were walking down the street in Shibuya, you kissed me…” Maimi blinked, her expression becoming surprised again, and withdrew slightly, though Yuuka held onto her wrist. “That was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me…” she finished quietly.
Maimi licked her lips, looking nervous. “Yes, I… I did…” she said, but seemed unable to continue herself.
Yuuka looked, for perhaps the first time calmly, into the face of the beautiful girl across from her. Despite all their power, despite all they’ve been through and all they’ve done, she for the first time truly realized that this girl was in reality no different from anyone else. She had the same doubts, the same anxieties… the same desires. Could this be what Risako had seen in Natsuyaki-san?
“Is there a reason you haven’t kissed me again?” Yuuka asked, still in a meek voice.
Maimi opened her mouth as if to answer, but then closed it slowly as she looked back into Yuuka’s eyes, apparently unsure of what to say.
“Would you kiss me again?” Yuuka asked, feeling her body heating. She was no longer sure where the words she said were coming from. Surely she wouldn’t have asked questions like this if she was anything near sane. She knew what things were like now… didn’t she? Then again, Suzuki-san had been sleeping alone lately, and tonight she was even with someone else.
Still, Maimi made no move. “I… I can’t…” she eventually said, but didn’t look away from Yuuka’s face.
Those words nearly broke Yuuka’s heart, but all her thoughts up to this point rang within her again, along with Natsuyaki-san’s words. “If you want something, you should take it.” Leaning in, her eyelids sliding shut, she pressed her lips to those of her leader’s, tasting them once again after so long.
…
Airi woke to the early morning light flowing in through her curtains, and realized her arms were wrapped around a smaller form pressed tightly up against her. She blinked as the world came back to her, and then smiled before raising a hand and slowly stroking the short hair of her companion. She hoped Chisato would find this a better day than the last. More memories came back to her, and her smile broadened. There was definitely plenty to be excited about.
Deciding to go ahead and get up to see if the others had woken yet, she carefully unwound her arms so as not to wake her friend, and slid back off the bed to stand groggily, realizing she’d slept in her clothes. Not that it was a big deal… It wasn’t the first time since they arrived here, since clothes and laundry service was in short supply. Trying to straighten her hair, she headed out the door into the dim hall to make her way down the stairs.
As she passed the second floor bedrooms, she noticed the door to the one Maimi had been using was half-open. Smiling even brighter and deciding she’d drop in to wish her a good morning, and maybe talk about things a bit more, she nearly skipped to the door and stepped in, but only just barely entering the room before slowing to a stop.
Maimi was lying on her back asleep, still in her clothes from yesterday, but the Maeda girl who’d attacked the house while she was gone was curled up beside her beneath her arm, an arm of her own draped loosely over Maimi’s stomach.
Airi swallowed, unable to look away even though wanting to desperately. The words she’d told Chisato the night before came back to her, and she decided that this was what happened when you didn’t talk about things. She just didn’t think they would happen to her… She tensed. Well, freaking out about it wasn’t going to help anything, so she might as well just go on with her life, shouldn’t she?
When Maimi stirred as if she was going to roll over, or worse, wake, Airi quickly made her way out of the room, pulling the door quietly to behind her. Even though her plan before entering the room would have been a good start to the morning, even though it instead turned into quite a horrible one, that wasn’t the thing she got up to do. Trying to stamp her envy and sadness down, she made her way further down the hall to Ai-chan and Risa’s room, though it seemed quiet as if they were still asleep. Of course they would be. Who knew when they got in last night, and why did she think everyone would be up as crazily early as her anyway?
Heading down the stairs, deciding she would get some breakfast, she passed through a room where she saw Miyabi holding Risako as they slept on a couch. She smiled at that, at two of the people closest to her able to find comfort in each other, but as she passed, she noticed Miyabi had her eyes open and following her. She stopped when she realized it, and Miyabi gestured with those eyes toward the dining room in a silent question. Airi nodded, as if the girl needed her confirmation, and continued on as she saw the other beginning to extricate herself from her friend.
Once in the kitchen, she pulled out two packages of onigiri from the refrigerator and headed back to the dining room, sitting down as Miyabi made her way in. She handed one to Miyabi, who nodded gratefully, and as the two began munching on them she spoke up. “Did everything go well at the school last night?”
“Yeah,” Miyabi said. “The campus is actually in quite good condition, considering, with everything where we left it. There’s still a bit of water around, but it’s isolated. I don’t think there is anyone for kilos.”
“Good,” Airi replied, happy to be able to get away from the constant presence of everyone outside the house, if only for a while before they found them again. She could only think half-way about such things though, as despite her efforts to the contrary, she couldn’t help but be distracted.
“I think we’ll have everything ready for us to move back in within a few days,” Miyabi continued, watching Airi closely as she finished her rice ball. “Then I can take us all over whenever we’re ready.”
“We’ll be ready,” Airi said firmly, finishing her own and going to get another.
“By the way,” she said as she returned, to see Miyabi just reclining in her chair and looking out the window. “Where should we stay there? I don’t think we can really stay in our old rooms, or we’d never have any time to ourselves.”
“Well, considering they’ll treat us as leaders whether we like it or not, we could stay in the Circle’s tower,” Miyabi replied thoughtfully, as if she’d already thought this through. “There’s plenty of room there for all of us.”
“Yeah,” Airi agreed, trying not to let her personal feelings interfere with what was important. “Best for the three of us and Maimi to be somewhere separate from the others… Ai-chan and Risa will take over Headmaster Tsunku’s quarters, I suppose.” Miyabi nodded.
“I just want it to be over, Miya…” Airi admitted, after walking over to the window to look out the curtain into the dim dawn Sunlight. “I want to go back to being a regular kid, even if it means leading the school in some fashion. I want to leave all this behind…”
There was silence in the room a moment before Airi turned back to the other, who was once again giving her that piercing gaze. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, Airi.”
Airi’s spirits sank further. Then she decided to ask the question she’d been hesitating to ever since coming back now that she knew of Miyabi’s abilities. “Have you seen something? What’s in store for us, Miya?”
Miyabi didn’t speak, but instead just rose and walked over beside Airi, wrapping a hand loosely around her waist. Airi gratefully laid her head on the other’s shoulder. “Please… I know things haven’t been the best between us… and I know you and Risako are together now…” She felt Miyabi’s arm tighten slightly at those words. “But don’t go anywhere, okay? I still need you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Airin,” Miyabi said simply, as the two looked out the window at the Sun, which was just now rising above the buildings spread out below them.
-
Chapter 3 – Suki Sugite, Baka Mitai
“Yuukarin, I really think we shouldn’t be up here…” Aika said as she clutched nervously at the arm of a girl whose curiosity had almost doomed her once before, yet she still couldn’t stop it from rising up again.
“She’s your friend, isn’t she?” Yuuka asked. “I wouldn’t think even someone like you would be so concerned about just dropping by her room.” Even though she said it as if it was a casual thing, she herself was almost terrified being up here, but as was the case most nights, she wanted to be sure the girl was alone. There were things she feared worse than being caught snooping around.
Oh boy, what are these two up to? :?
Aika now cast nervous glances back down the hall. “If someone catches us here…” She shuddered. “Especially Tanaka-san, or Natsuyaki-san…”
Bigger "oh boy". Just where are they?
Finally she could discern the still form on the bed, but something else she noticed made her chest constrict. The girl wasn’t alone. She craned her neck as far as she could as if that would help her see, but the front form she recognized blocked the other completely from view except for a dim silhouette.
“What is it?” Aika asked in barely a whisper, apparently giving up in her scrutiny of the hall and peering tentatively over her shoulder.
“There’s someone in there with her,” Yuuka whispered back, and she felt the pressure relieve against her back.
“All right, that’s it,” Aika said firmly, as if having come to a decision. “I’ve had enough of this. It’s risky enough trying to go into her bedroom, but if she has someone with her… There are things I don’t want or need to know. Will you come with me?”
“Just a second,” Yuuka said, peering as hard as she could at the dark shapes on the bed. Having assumed the worst, something didn’t seem quite right about what she saw. “Does she have any other close friends?” she asked, but when there was no response she looked back to see an empty hallway.
The girl had deserted her.
...
When she began creeping carefully back down the hall, she pondered momentarily on the obsession that had almost driven her mad before, and even now that she felt like she was adjusting and able to talk more at least, couldn’t seem to shake totally. Well, it wouldn’t hurt just to keep an eye on the girl at times like these, wouldn’t it? It wasn’t like she was stalking her all the time… The thought was almost crazy in itself to her. She might as well stalk a viper that was staring her right in the eyes.
She slouched slightly as she made it to the stairs and began climbing down. And anyway, it wasn’t like she had any hope of things turning out differently. She saw the way the two of them looked at each other – even when they were angry, it was like nothing else existed. She sighed. In that small respect at least, she so dearly wished she was Airi Suzuki.
HOLY CRAP! YUUKARIN'S STALKING AIRI!?!?!!?
:mon wtf:
There was a short silence as the girl’s words made the others think of what most of the country was like at the moment after the storm, which they’d heard was caused by Takahashi-san, although they couldn’t believe she would do something so mean. However, at the same time they were impressed at the power it would have taken to do something like that, and still believed, despite the others’ insistence, that she was stronger than Suzuki-san. Suzuki-san was just so… young… around their age in fact. Not that it made them respect her any less now…
Ah, they don't realize that the majority of Airi's powers are still untapped and not fully under her control.
*DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER AIRI SLEEPS*
It's probably better that Yuuka keeps her mouth shut about the whole "seeing Airi sleep" bit. Having to explain that would be..awkward, to say the least. :sweatdrop:
“I can’t say I’m excited to go back to school again…” Akari said in a hesitant voice, “But at least it’s Seishin, and with Takahashi-san and Niigaki-san leading it, it can’t be too bad.”
That's the spirit. :lol:
*YUUKA DEFENDS REINA & THE SKULLS*
I guess all these girls were still new to the school, and thus really fell into the party line when it came to what The Circle was spouting back before all this hub-bub.
“I’d feel better if Shimizu-san was around to decide too…” Ayaka said in a low voice.
“She was my leader too,” Yuuka said, sympathizing with her old housemate, “But you know what happened to her. That’s even more evidence that the Circle was somehow being led astray…”
Indeed. In situations like these, the leaders are often looked at/revered in an almost "larger than life" manner. For the believers/faithful, it's really hard to believe, or even comprehend, that they could be lead down the wrong path the way that they were.
“I suppose that’s the way of things…” Akari said finally. “If Suzuki-san and… the others… were those who won, and now if Yajima-san and Takahashi-san are willingly following them, we should too… ne?”
Kanon, with a cute pout on her face, looked like she wanted to argue, but eventually just sighed. “I guess I can try to be like Suzuki-san… and maybe even Natsuyaki-san…”
“Hey, I think I hear my name from in there…” came a voice from the hall, and the shuffling steps Yuuka had heard a moment ago came closer to the door until Natsuyaki-san herself appeared, with Takahashi-san and Niigaki-san just behind.
Look who's home. :wave:
“How did things go at Seishin?” Yuuka asked, trying her best to stand up without betraying her own anxiety. “You just got back, right Natsuyaki-sama?”
As the girl mouthed the last thing Yuuka said, Takahashi-san nudged her aside gently and stepped forward, smiling.
Someone's got a fan.
Aichan = :mon misch:
“Would you like to sleep in here with us tonight?” Kanon asked.
“Maybe,” Yuuka responded distractedly. “But I have a blanket in another room that I’d have to bring.”
Awwwwwwwwwww...she wants her blanket! That's so cute! :oops:
Yuuka walked slowly down the hallway, hoping not to run into Takahashi-san or Niigaki-san again. She did have a blanket to get, but mostly she wanted to find Aika.
So I guess she wasn't in her room?
Not seeming able to find her on the first floor, she climbed to the second with the thought of checking some of the bedrooms there, but as she reached the top of the stairs she nearly ran into Natsuyaki-san, who was just leaving one of the washrooms. She froze to a halt, hardly able to meet the intense eyes of the girl before her as they settled on her own, but once they did they only stared at each other a moment.
“Looking for someone?” the Skull finally asked.
Riding the torrent of mixed emotions she felt as she looked into the girl’s face, Yuuka could only stutter a response, “Umm… well, no… I mean, yes…!”
Oh boy...don't tell me. Miyabi, what are you doing? :o
Suddenly the girl smiled, though it didn’t seem pleasant at all to Yuuka. “You know very well what I’m talking about. It’s why you go upstairs every night just to set yourself at ease. You’re doing a better stalking job than I ever have.” Yuuka’s eyes widened despite the burning. How did the girl know that?! “You know that’s pointless though. Without any effort on your part, things are bound to take their own direction eventually.”
WTF, Miyabi knows?!?!?
:stunned:
Oh right, the whole mind-reading thing she has. It probably wasn't that hard for her to tell what Yuuka was thinking/doing at night.
“Miya!” Risako said, giving the one she spoke to a look of concealed adoration that Yuuka knew all too well in herself. “Fancy finding you up here. I just came out of the washroom.”
...
Stealthily, Yuuka saw the girl snake an arm around Risako’s waist and almost gasped. “So what are you doing still up, anyway? Here I am, just back after a long night, and trying to find somewhere decently comfortable to sleep…”
“I was just about to head to bed myself…” Risako said, gesturing to the long t-shirt she wore over what looked like nothing else but her underwear. “I was able to find a spot on a couch tonight.” She looked up into Natsuyaki-san’s face, Yuuka apparently forgotten again, and a pink flush slowly suffused her cheeks. She also leaned in more to the other girl’s embrace. “If you’re looking for somewhere to sleep, I suppose you could join me on the couch… though with both of us I’m not sure how comfortable it’d be…”
“That sounds as comfortable as anywhere to me,” Natsuyaki-san said with a smile.
Something tells me Miyabi's hoping that the couch Socko found is in a private room of it's own. :twisted:
“Yuuka-chan?” Maimi asked, looking rather surprised. The two had hardly spoken since the other girl had awoken. “What are you doing here? And so late!”
“Yajima-san…” Yuuka began, but couldn’t say anything else and instead closed the distance to the bed quickly and sat on the edge facing away from Maimi. Her heart was racing, doki-doki all that was reaching her ears.
OH SNAP!!! IT'S NOT AIRI, BUT MAIMI THAT YUUKA RABURABU'S!!!
:mon spit:
“Before…” Yuuka began, deciding that she just had to get it out. “Before everything happened, when we were walking down the street in Shibuya, you kissed me…” Maimi blinked, her expression becoming surprised again, and withdrew slightly, though Yuuka held onto her wrist. “That was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me…” she finished quietly.
Oh GAWD I'm an idiot! I totally forgot about that! :doh: XD
“Is there a reason you haven’t kissed me again?” Yuuka asked, still in a meek voice.
Maimi opened her mouth as if to answer, but then closed it slowly as she looked back into Yuuka’s eyes, apparently unsure of what to say.
Shit, Maimi knows what she's going to have to do, and she doesn't like it. :(
“Would you kiss me again?” Yuuka asked, feeling her body heating.
...
Still, Maimi made no move. “I… I can’t…” she eventually said, but didn’t look away from Yuuka’s face.
:cry:
Those words nearly broke Yuuka’s heart, but all her thoughts up to this point rang within her again, along with Natsuyaki-san’s words. “If you want something, you should take it.”Leaning in, her eyelids sliding shut, she pressed her lips to those of her leader’s, tasting them once again after so long.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh geez... :badluck:
Makes me wonder now, when Miyabi told her that, just how much of it was really to help Aika, and how much was to try and drive a wedge between Airi and Maimi? :bleed eyes:
Airi woke to the early morning light flowing in through her curtains, and realized her arms were wrapped around a smaller form pressed tightly up against her. She blinked as the world came back to her, and then smiled before raising a hand and slowly stroking the short hair of her companion. She hoped Chisato would find this a better day than the last.
Normally I would have been worried about what Maimi would say if she saw Airi and Chisato sleeping like that...but considering the circumstances... :-X
As she passed the second floor bedrooms, she noticed the door to the one Maimi had been using was half-open. Smiling even brighter and deciding she’d drop in to wish her a good morning, and maybe talk about things a bit more, she nearly skipped to the door and stepped in, but only just barely entering the room before slowing to a stop.
Maimi was lying on her back asleep, still in her clothes from yesterday, but the Maeda girl who’d attacked the house while she was gone was curled up beside her beneath her arm, an arm of her own draped loosely over Maimi’s stomach.
Eeps! O_O
Oh I really hope that Maimi did the right thing and kept things from progressing too far with Yuuka.
:mon unsure:
“I just want it to be over, Miya…” Airi admitted, after walking over to the window to look out the curtain into the dim dawn Sunlight. “I want to go back to being a regular kid, even if it means leading the school in some fashion. I want to leave all this behind…”
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...that's not likely going to happen. They could try and get back into a more "normal" daily routine, but nothing for them is ever going to be "normal" again.
There was silence in the room a moment before Airi turned back to the other, who was once again giving her that piercing gaze. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, Airi.”
Airi’s spirits sank further. Then she decided to ask the question she’d been hesitating to ever since coming back now that she knew of Miyabi’s abilities. “Have you seen something? What’s in store for us, Miya?”
Miyabi didn’t speak, but instead just rose and walked over beside Airi, wrapping a hand loosely around her waist. Airi gratefully laid her head on the other’s shoulder. “Please… I know things haven’t been the best between us… and I know you and Risako are together now…” She felt Miyabi’s arm tighten slightly at those words. “But don’t go anywhere, okay? I still need you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Airin,” Miyabi said simply, as the two looked out the window at the Sun, which was just now rising above the buildings spread out below them.
Crap, now that makes me even MORE suspicious about Miyabi's motives regarding what she told Yuuka.
:hip blink:
-
oHHHH!! a chapter for yuuka maeda the girl cute of Shugo Shara. Kanon!!!!!!! Kanon :heart: is kawaiiii!!!!!
Aika now cast nervous glances back down the hall. “If someone catches us here…” She shuddered. “Especially Tanaka-san, or Natsuyaki-san…”
No wonder nothing! the reputation and image they have Tanaka and Natsuyaki. xD
Finally she could discern the still form on the bed, but something else she noticed made her chest constrict. The girl wasn’t alone. She craned her neck as far as she could as if that would help her see, but the front form she recognized blocked the other completely from view except for a dim silhouette.
lol xD
She squinted back into the room, and realized why things looked different than she expected. The girl on the far side of the bed was halfway curled up, but it was still obvious that she was shorter than the one blocking most of her from view. Quite a bit shorter, in fact. Finally Yuuka pulled back and drew the door softly shut, sighing in relief.
lol xD
“She’s sleeping now though,” Yuuka said absently, and the other three turned to stare at her. “What?” she asked, blinking.
Yuuka... Yuuka... :sweatdrop:
you... :depressed:
“How do you know that?” Akari asked suspiciously.
:shock:
“I hear she never sleeps,” Ayaka added with wide eyes and a nod. “She doesn’t need it!”
:barf:
PpffF!! ReallY??
“You all are silly,” Kanon scolded the two. “Of course she sleeps!” She turned to Yuuka. “But she sleeps with her eyes open, so she always knows what’s going on around her.”
:dunno:
Kanon is a girl who has a lot of imagination. :ding:
Yuuka held back a sigh. She didn’t bother correcting these girls. Whatever they had supposedly done, she knew all too well that their leaders were still human, if exceptional ones. Then again, she had a lot more direct experience with them than they had… Aside from Kanon, the other two had even just arrived at the house the day before.
Yuuka you're a smart girl. :glasses: :hee:
“Yeah,” Kanon commented. “At least it’s not going to be Tanaka-san and Natsuyaki-san in charge…” The others nodded in silent agreement, but Yuuka felt something stir within her.
JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA!!! Kanon is charming!
This girl is so charming and funny.
Kanon seems admire greatly to Maimi!
Maimi is popular with the girls! Maimi is competition for Miyabi and Tanaka.
“Don’t talk that way about Tanaka-san,” she said, and the other girls stared at her again. This time she stiffened her resolve though. “She may talk like she couldn’t care less about anyone, but she’s really a good person.” She felt obligated to defend the girl after she’d basically saved her own soul… If it wasn’t for her, Aika at least likely would have died, and she’d have much more than what ended up being just a mad rampage with no solid consequences hanging over her head.
OH!!! Yuuka respects to Tanaka. lol
“How did things go at Seishin?” Yuuka asked, trying her best to stand up without betraying her own anxiety. “You just got back, right Natsuyaki-sama?”
oh!
Yuuka is a girl who likes to be informed. :bingo: good!! Yuuka-chan!! :)
“Well, maybe I can kick someone out. Or maybe I’ll just kick Maimi out of her bed. There’s nothing wrong with her anymore, so she should share in the discomfort along with the rest of us, at least as long as we still have to suffer it.”
Miya... :grr:
Miya I not understand.
Miyabi but... much it complicates the lives of Maimi. xD
¿Miya hates to Maimi?
Miya always reminds to Maimi, even bother to do anything to bring problems to Maimi. xD
Miyabi always thinking of Maimi. :D
she climbed to the second with the thought of checking some of the bedrooms there, but as she reached the top of the stairs she nearly ran into Natsuyaki-san, who was just leaving one of the washrooms. She froze to a halt, hardly able to meet the intense eyes of the girl before her as they settled on her own, but once they did they only stared at each other a moment.
:OMG: or no!!!! MiyA!!!!! kowaii !!! YukA!!!!
“Looking for someone?” the Skull finally asked.
:bored:
hahaha...
Riding the torrent of mixed emotions she felt as she looked into the girl’s face, Yuuka could only stutter a response, “Umm… well, no… I mean, yes…!”
Poor Yuuka... :err:
“Yes…” the other girl said, her eyes seeming to bore into Yuuka’s soul. Yuuka only swallowed in fright at her predicament, though couldn’t seem to pick her feet up to move. “You’re looking for someone, but you’re doing your best to give up since you think it’s hopeless.” Yuuka wanted to blink, but somehow couldn’t, causing her eyes to begin burning. “Why do you think that? If you want something, you should take it.”
Miyabi... :ding: :fainted: :hehehe: I supposed that you were not so smart Miya... lol
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Yuuka asked.
innocent yuuka :hee:
Suddenly the girl smiled, though it didn’t seem pleasant at all to Yuuka. “You know very well what I’m talking about. It’s why you go upstairs every night just to set yourself at ease. You’re doing a better stalking job than I ever have.” Yuuka’s eyes widened despite the burning. How did the girl know that?! “You know that’s pointless though. Without any effort on your part, things are bound to take their own direction eventually.”
Miyabi is an observer.:shock:
I never would have imagined this in Miyabi. :shock:
Miyabi observed in such detail ... :scared:
Since when is attentive to Yuuka you Miyabi? :scared:
“B-but…” Yuuka stammered again. “It’s impossible! There’s no way I could compete with…” she clamped her mouth shut tight. The last thing she wanted to do was reveal that to this girl! As if she wasn’t in enough trouble already…
Miya... :thumbdown:
“Really?” Natsuyaki-san asked, raising an eyebrow. “I bet you’d be surprised at what’s possible if you just try.” She tapped a finger on Yuuka’s nose, making her flinch. She touched her! She shivered as if she could feel everything the girl was capable of in that touch.
If .. I accept!
Miyabi you helping to yuuka...
but ... :kneelbow:
Airi feel bad when he finds what he has done you Miyabi. :on lol:
Miyabi inciting a war between one a yuuka and AIRI ... :shock: :frustrated:
Miyabi enjoy seeing the hard times in Maimi. :sweatdrop:
The Skull turned her head to look down the hall toward a door to one of the bedrooms. “She’s still awake, just reading. You should… drop in. After all…” She turned back to the still unblinking Yuuka. “It’s what you want, isn’t it?”
Miyabi observed to Maimi! :shock:
Miyabi this equals that yuuka!
Yuuka observed to Airi. :shock:
And Miyabi observed to Maimi. :sweat: :stoned: :smoke:
Now I understand because they are friends Yuuka and Miyabi. :smoke: :shock: :sweat:
is as if Yuuka is younger sister of Miyabi. :stoned: :sweat:
“Y-yes…” Yuuka said meekly, and the other smiled.
:whistle:
“Harassing? Me?” Natsuyaki-san asked innocently, blinking between the two of them. “Was I harassing you, Yuuka-chan?”
:smoke:
Miyabi innocent ...
Risako is my idol!
She is the only one who can control to Miyabi! :shy2: :wriggly:
Risako!! :wriggly: :wriggly: :wriggly:
After just seconds, she reached the door. She thought about knocking, but decided against it, instead just pushing it open slowly. The girl had been right – she was there, just sitting in the middle of the bed reading a book that lay in her lap. Apparently she was quiet enough that the other girl didn’t notice at first, and her feet had carried her halfway to the bed before she looked up.
Yuuka is kawaiii in this chapter!! :shy2:
Maimi is mature in read that book in your bed!
I am very pleased this part!
“Yuuka-chan?” Maimi asked, looking rather surprised. The two had hardly spoken since the other girl had awoken. “What are you doing here? And so late!”
Maimi looked to Yuuka! :hee:
“Yajima-san…” Yuuka began, but couldn’t say anything else and instead closed the distance to the bed quickly and sat on the edge facing away from Maimi. Her heart was racing, doki-doki all that was reaching her ears.
:shy2: Yuuka is nervous ...
“Yuuka?” Maimi asked, this time in a more concerned voice. Above her heartbeat, Yuuka heard the other girl shut her book and shift on the bed. Soon she felt warmer as the girl scooted up just beside her. “Is something wrong?”
being very nervous Yuuka! :heart: :heart:
Tomorrow I will continue with my post! :hee:
-
Seems like Yuuka has some Skull potential, or at least, she could have been a Skull under different circumstances. Miya probably sensed some of it, hence her advice. :P
Airi is starting to sound older, much older than the rest. Can't really tell if it's because of her dormant powers or because of her situation. And yay for Miya for being trustworthy, kind of...
-
I like the chapter title :P
So Shugo Chara + Aika come together in this fic now? nice, nice. Their encounter with the three elder girls was funny. :lol:
I remembered Yuuka still had something for Maimi, but I didn't think she was gonna take action after the fiasco in the prequel. I'm anxious for what's gonna be in store :twisted:
-
“I…” Yuuka began again, holding a hand to her chest to try and hold her heart in. All the events of the past weeks seemed to be crashing through her mind at the same moment, making it hard for her to think, much less talk.
“Yes…?” Maimi asked, and Yuuka felt a cool hand on her arm.
Almost reflexively, Yuuka reached up and grabbed the wrist of that hand, turning to look into the other girl’s face, which glanced down at her hand before looking back up to her.
when you want to say what you feel.
is very difficult.
ne? Yuuka-chan. :hee:
“Before…” Yuuka began, deciding that she just had to get it out. “Before everything happened, when we were walking down the street in Shibuya, you kissed me…” Maimi blinked, her expression becoming surprised again, and withdrew slightly, though Yuuka held onto her wrist. “That was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me…” she finished quietly.
Wow...
you...
is a brave girl. :on cny1:
That is surprising.
although it was very difficult to express their feelings.
Maimi licked her lips, looking nervous. “Yes, I… I did…” she said, but seemed unable to continue herself.
Their reaction was to be expected Maimi, surprised and left speechless. :mon wind:
Yuuka surprised me in this chapter. :mon sweat:
Yuuka looked, for perhaps the first time calmly, into the face of the beautiful girl across from her. Despite all their power, despite all they’ve been through and all they’ve done, she for the first time truly realized that this girl was in reality no different from anyone else. She had the same doubts, the same anxieties… the same desires. Could this be what Risako had seen in Natsuyaki-san?
oh!
Yuuka admires to Risako. :mon lurk: kawai yuuka :P
“Is there a reason you haven’t kissed me again?” Yuuka asked, still in a meek voice.
a direct question. :mon ignore:
you are a girl direct Yuuka-chan. :mon sweat:
Maimi opened her mouth as if to answer, but then closed it slowly as she looked back into Yuuka’s eyes, apparently unsure of what to say.
...
“Would you kiss me again?” Yuuka asked, feeling her body heating. She was no longer sure where the words she said were coming from. Surely she wouldn’t have asked questions like this if she was anything near sane. She knew what things were like now… didn’t she? Then again, Suzuki-san had been sleeping alone lately, and tonight she was even with someone else.
Yuuka-chan??? :mon huh:
really is you? :mon suspect:
or Miyabi inside of you? :mon lurk:
Still, Maimi made no move. “I… I can’t…” she eventually said, but didn’t look away from Yuuka’s face.
You have been sincere Maimi. :hee:
This is a unique value. :hee:
be honest is an excellent value. :mon fyeah:
And best of all, you look directly into the eyes of Yuuka. :mon thumb:
Those words nearly broke Yuuka’s heart, but all her thoughts up to this point rang within her again, along with Natsuyaki-san’s words. “If you want something, you should take it.” Leaning in, her eyelids sliding shut, she pressed her lips to those of her leader’s, tasting them once again after so long.
Yuuka is taking drastic measures with Maimi. yuuka loves to Maimi.
and is willing to make competition to Airi.
As she passed the second floor bedrooms, she noticed the door to the one Maimi had been using was half-open. Smiling even brighter and deciding she’d drop in to wish her a good morning, and maybe talk about things a bit more, she nearly skipped to the door and stepped in, but only just barely entering the room before slowing to a stop.
Maimi was lying on her back asleep, still in her clothes from yesterday, but the Maeda girl who’d attacked the house while she was gone was curled up beside her beneath her arm, an arm of her own draped loosely over Maimi’s stomach.
:on blackhole: Airi!! Maimi!! and YuukA!!!!
Airi swallowed, unable to look away even though wanting to desperately. The words she’d told Chisato the night before came back to her, and she decided that this was what happened when you didn’t talk about things. She just didn’t think they would happen to her… She tensed. Well, freaking out about it wasn’t going to help anything, so she might as well just go on with her life, shouldn’t she?
When Maimi stirred as if she was going to roll over, or worse, wake, Airi quickly made her way out of the room, pulling the door quietly to behind her. Even though her plan before entering the room would have been a good start to the morning, even though it instead turned into quite a horrible one, that wasn’t the thing she got up to do. Trying to stamp her envy and sadness down, she made her way further down the hall to Ai-chan and Risa’s room, though it seemed quiet as if they were still asleep. Of course they would be. Who knew when they got in last night, and why did she think everyone would be up as crazily early as her anyway?
Airi... :on speedy: :on cloudeye:
but...
You are now feeling a bit of suffering of Maimi.
Maimi know that you Airi... :on blackhole:
had sex with Miyabi. :on cloudeye:
Maimi and suffered for this... :on cloudeye:
“Yeah,” Airi agreed, trying not to let her personal feelings interfere with what was important. “Best for the three of us and Maimi to be somewhere separate from the others… Ai-chan and Risa will take over Headmaster Tsunku’s quarters, I suppose.” Miyabi nodded.
Airi you have to talk to Maimi.
Talk about many things.
because now you will not be easy.
Yuuka is a problem for you,in her loving relationship with Maimi.
And apparently is willing yuuka to everything.
AIRI have fight and defend what is yours.
Yuuka is maturing.
you feel the new year in fic fic.
a little ahead but ...
MO! That does not matter! hehehe :hee:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
New Year's gift:
(http://www.imgur.com/files/081229/Th.161000.jpg) (http://www.imgur.com/i.php?i=081229/161000.jpg)
My compliments to the person who made this picture.
drawing is difficult. :P
And next chapter. :P
-
Just four comments? I'm disappointed. :cry: Hopefully everyone's just busy over the holiday...
Well, it's fairly quick, but I have another late Christmas present for those of you who are still reading. ^^ First though... responses to those who did comment! There may not have been many, but they were good ones. :) (even if all you write is a sentence though, I'd still love to see your interest!)
JFC: One of your comments reflected exactly what I was trying to do with this chapter in making it from the viewpoint of Yuuka and the other Shugo Chara Egg members. :) I'm not sure if I pulled it off too well... though apparently a little at least since you commented on it... but as you said, people in the positions Airi and the others have found themselves in are thought of as larger-than-life by those who... feel that they definitely aren't larger-than-life. It's shown first in the people outside basically worshiping the girls in the house, but it's the same for those who are even closer to them. There'll be more of that kind of reaction in the coming chapter, because that's exactly what's going on - however hard Airi might try and want to just be normal again, the fact is she most definitely is not, and in fact is a far cry from what most people would think of as "normal" or "average". The same goes for the other girls with powers too - Airi's just the most pronounced.
Also, good catching of Miyabi's perhaps ulterior motives. ;) I won't say if you're right as to your guesses of what they really are, but she definitely didn't help Yuuka just out of the goodness of her heart, and the I'm not sure how much of a "chance" run-in it was in the first place when Yuuka bumped into her. Miyabi's quite aware of her surroundings through various means. She doesn't likely bump into someone unless she means to...
Maimi_Yajima: I'm happy to see how much you enjoy those minor characters, like the non-Yuuka Egg members in this. ^^ When I write them in like this, I try to give them personalities and characters of their own, even if this is going to be one of their only times in the spotlight in the story. Creating new characters like that requires more effort than just continuing on with ones I've already built... like Airi... or Risako... so I'm happy to see someone enjoying them at least. :)
As for your comments about Yuuka and Maimi... don't forget how it was Miyabi that prodded her into it. Yeah Yuuka always had it in her or she couldn't have done it to begin with, but she still needed just that little extra prodding. ;)
Amarghetta: Miyabi's trustworthy in the things she chooses to be trustworthy about. :lol: And Yuuka's had a lot of time to think about what's going on in her life and what she might do about it... Though I've talked about all this more above, too. ;)
mode: I hope you'll enjoy what's to come. ^^
-
Chapter 4 – A Happy Return
“Where’s my hairbrush?!” Risako cried as she ran down the hall in her seifuku, though with her vest and bow undone. Everyone had changed into their school outfits since they were about to head back finally. “I can’t go without my hairbrush!”
“I’m not making a special trip back just for your hairbrush…” Miyabi taunted her after taking a step out of a washroom as she wiped her face, making the younger girl pout. “Besides, is it really that important?” Miyabi wore her seifuku as well, though just barely. A chain hung down from the waistband of her skirt on the right side, and she had a cross necklace around her neck with elaborate skull brooches attached to her undone ribbon.
“Yes!” Risako replied, staring incredulously at the girl as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Miyabi just smirked as she disappeared back into the washroom.
Airi almost giggled as she saw the scene down the stairs while packing up her own things, tossing items over to Chisato she thought the girl could use. She felt a little bad bringing anything of hers in the first place, since most of the other girls had almost nothing with them, and she hoped that whatever they had been forced to leave behind at the school was still in usable condition upon their return. That wasn’t one of the things they’d thought to check on in their trips over to prepare for everyone’s arrival.
As for Miyabi and Risako… The two of them had been going on like that for days now – basically the whole time they’d been preparing to leave the house. Airi was truly happy for her friend, and she supposed her former girlfriend as well, but thinking about them still made her feel at least a bit envious.
“Just ignore them,” Chisato said as she examined a shirt that looked to be too tight for her. “At least they’ll have the space to do all their lovey-dovey stuff all alone once we get back to Seishin.”
Yeah, Airi thought. That was likely to happen. Not with Miyabi’s seeming fondness for public displays of affection. At least Risako had been keeping her away from Reina the last few days, something that had disturbed Airi far more than anything else. Then again, for her part Reina had seemed quite indisposed as well. This time she cast a sad, sidelong gaze at Chisato.
She’d tried to get her friend to talk to the girl, but since Erina was basically glued to Reina’s side whenever she wasn’t alone, Airi didn’t blame Chisato for not managing it yet. She didn’t think her friend was paying attention, but the potential good news was that whenever she saw the two of them together lately, Reina looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. Once they got back to the school, where there would be a lot of anywhere else-like places to go to, she didn’t have much faith in the continuation of whatever might be going on between the two of them.
Then again, in a way Chisato’s situation mirrored her own. Since finding Yuuka and Maimi together that morning, she’d avoided talking to Maimi at any time except during gatherings, like a meal or a meeting. There seemed to be a couple times when Maimi came up to try to talk to her afterwards on those occasions, but she utilized her size and quickness to evade her skillfully. Perhaps there were many things she wasn’t noticing either, so she could completely sympathize with Chisato’s position. She was just too afraid to risk it…
That was probably part of the reason that, after their first night comforting each other, she’d invited Chisato to stay in her room ever since. Once the rest of the houseguests found out about it they weren’t the happiest, as if it somehow tainted Airi’s holiness or some such ridiculousness, but when she wouldn’t pay them any mind they also weren’t going to argue with her about it. Still, she knew there were rumors going around. Casting a glance down at Maimi’s room, which she hadn’t set foot in since that night, she wasn’t too sure that was altogether a bad thing.
“Hey, I’ve been thinking about something,” Airi said, as she continued along a similar line of thought. “When we get back to Seishin… I mean, we were roommates before after all, and… well… since I’ll be staying somewhere different now, I was wondering if you wanted to move into the tower with me?”
Chisato froze in the act of tossing a shirt into one of Airi’s old suitcases, and didn’t reply for a moment before resuming her work. “That’s all right, Osuzu. I don’t want to barge in on your space in there.”
Airi watched her a moment, the other girl seeming a little too focused on smoothing out a particular wrinkle in one of the shirts. “You won’t have to worry about running into Mano-san there. I’m reasonably sure she won’t be around.”
Airi thought the girl would wear a hole in the shirt with as vigorously as she was rubbing her fingers into it. “Why would that have anything to do with it?” she asked in a tight voice.
“It was just a comment,” Airi said, shrugging as if it was nothing important. “I just thought you might enjoy it a bit more there, thinking you might be a bit lonely back in House Matsuura… Though also…” Her voice quieted as she went on. “I hoped you’d be there for me too. I could really use a friend close to me who I know I can count on.”
Chisato finally looked in her direction, though this time it was Airi focusing exaggeratedly on her work. “I’ll think about it,” she said finally, and the two went quietly back to their work.
“Hey, do you guys know where my hairbrush is?” Risako’s voice asked from behind them, making both girls nearly jump.
“You seriously need to keep better track of your things, Rii-chan…” Chisato said in a long-suffering voice.
Airi just looked at her with wide eyes. “Why would we know where it is? Unless it’s in here… and there’s no way that could be…”
“Well,” Risako said, doing a good job of looking both forlorn and guilty. “You live here after all, and so I thought…”
Airi raised an eyebrow at her. “You all have lived here just as much as I for the past few weeks, and kami-sama knows some of you probably know where things are around here a lot better than me by now.”
“Y’know, Osuzu,” Chisato said, having turned back to her packing. “It’s understandable you getting a big head and all, but if you start calling yourself ‘kami-sama’, there’s no way I’m moving in with you…”
Eyebrows rising, as Risako began to giggle, Airi had to fight the urge to kancho her shorter friend, or at least shove her a bit. She settled for stealing one of her shirts back, before realizing she really had no use for it and tossing it back at the girl’s head, causing Chisato to just stare oddly at her.
“You are really the most random person sometimes…” the girl said.
“Just pray I don’t start circling around you doing the kappa dance,” Airi warned in response.
Chisato suddenly clasped her hands together, her eyes finding Airi’s. “Oh kami-sama, please don’t do that… anything but that!” This time she had to dodge Airi’s lunge.
In the exchange between the two friends, Airi hadn’t even noticed that Risako stopped giggling. “You’re moving into the Ivory Tower with Airi?” she asked in a thoughtful voice.
“Not anymore she isn’t,” Airi said between gritted teeth as the girls fought against each other’s hands. Airi could of course easily win with her newly acquired strength, but she’d gotten used to wrestling with Chisato this way, and she wanted to still be able to have fun doing it.
“Miya asked me to move in there with her too…” Risako went on as the other girls continued with their fight, but it abruptly stopped at her words and the two stared at her, their hands still locked together. Risako blushed at the sudden scrutiny.
“She did?” Chisato asked, apparently surprised. Airi had a few questions too, but before she could ask Risako turned and, with a glance out the door, closed it carefully before turning back to them.
“Yes, but I haven’t accepted yet,” the girl said, the blush still coloring her features. “I told her I’d let her know when she took us all over. I kind of wanted to talk to you guys about it… but was afraid to…”
“Well if you were afraid to talk to us about it, then I agree you should be having second thoughts,” Chisato said as the two finally parted and sat on the edge of the bed to converse with the new arrival.
“It’s not that…” Risako said, seeming as if in thought, “I mean, I’ve basically decided to accept, but I thought it would be… good… if I talked with you guys about it too. You are my best friends and all and, well, you also have a lot of experience with her…”
“Yes,” Chisato said, glancing over to Airi. “We do.”
Airi cleared her throat before she began to blush herself. “I think if she’s making gestures like that to you, then she really means it and will treat you well.” Suddenly her voice adopted a melancholy quality. “She doesn’t love lightly…”
“I’m not so sure of that, Osuzu…” Chisato said skeptically, but Risako was just watching Airi.
“That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about…” Risako said in a quieter tone. “We haven’t really done more than play around so far…”
“Play…” Chisato repeated as a coughing laugh. “Yeah, that’s what she would do.”
Risako seemed to ignore her and just went on. “But something like this is a pretty serious step. If we do this, I think she’ll really become my g… my girlfriend,” she said, as if the word was difficult for her to say, and she still said it with some wonder in her voice. However, her eyes quickly refocused on Airi, whose own eyes were no longer melancholy but fixed on her friend. “I wanted… I wanted to make sure you would be okay with that…”
There was silence for a moment, Risako and Airi staring at each other while Chisato shared her gaze between them, seeming to have no further words to say herself. However, after that short moment Airi suddenly smiled. “Of course I would be. You’re both my friends. I want you to be happy.”
“I know how big of a deal this must be…” Risako said, looking down finally with a pink tint coming to her cheeks. “I don’t want to hurt you, and in part I feel guilty for doing something like this to begin with…”
Airi reached out long fingers and laid a couple beneath Risako’s chin to raise the girl’s eyes back to her own. “Listen. You are one of my best friends. Miya and I also share something… that makes us very close.” Risako blushed again, and Airi was proud of not doing the same in the concentration on her words of encouragement. “If being together makes the two of you happy, then I would be a very bad friend in return if I had any influence on keeping you apart. I don’t want that to happen. Please, don’t worry about my feelings in this. Besides…” she continued, withdrawing her hand and looking down with some shame herself. “It was I who was responsible for what happened between the two of us anyway. I have no right to have any say in what she does from now on, and honestly, because of the same reasons I let her go for, since my heart lies with another I’m not sure if I’m even capable of such hurt.”
This time both Risako and Chisato were staring at her, both also in slight disbelief. “It took me a long time to really believe that’s what happened between you two,” Risako admitted. “You were always the perfect person… still seem to be… where she seemed to have so many flaws. I just couldn’t believe that you could…” She lowered her eyes and swallowed, unable to continue.
“She was very special to me,” Airi said with shade of sadness in her words. “She still is. She’s like a sister. I knew what I wanted to do, and I knew how she felt, and I felt I owed her something…”
“Let’s stop talking about this,” Risako said, her face still full of pink. “It’s making me embarrassed.”
“How are you getting so embarrassed?” Chisato asked. “You’re the one dating Miyabi Natsuyaki. Between her and Reina, I’m not sure any of us should have anything left to be embarrassed about!”
“What do you mean?” Risako asked, showing a confused face to her smaller friend.
“You know…” Chisato said hesitantly. “Those girls are very… aggressive…” she said, now blushing and looking down herself. “Being with them, it’s hard to keep any shame about anything.”
Seeing Risako’s still somewhat blank face, Airi quietly interjected, “She means how your point of view changes after doing things like having sex.”
Airi didn’t know it was possible, but Risako seemed to blush deeper. “Oh…” the girl said in a weak voice. “Well… We haven’t done anything like that…”
“You haven’t?” Chisato asked in apparent surprise, her eyes widening, but at that moment the door swung open.
Miyabi looked in, holding a hairbrush in one hand. “Oh hey,” she said. “You’re all in here.” By her eyes though, Airi didn’t think the girl was the least bit surprised. As she continued looking at the girl, she couldn’t help a slight pang of nervousness at wondering how much of their conversation she might have caught. “Hey kid, I found your hairbrush,” she said, tossing what she was holding into Risako’s lap. Risako just blinked down at it as if having forgotten she was looking for it.
“That’s awfully convenient, you finding it,” Airi said with a twist to her mouth. “Where had it gone, anyway?”
“Um…” the other responded. “I just found it lying around somewhere.”
“Lying around…” Airi said, nodding and grinning as well.
Miyabi seemed to notice the suspicion in her tone and cast her eyes past them, clearing her throat and changing the subject. “Are you guys ready yet? Everyone else has so little to bring, so they’re all set, and we need to get away from our parents as soon as possible…” she finished, a haunted look in her eye.
Airi jumped up, remembering the preparation they had been doing, and turned to her bag. There was really hardly anything left to go through. “Go ahead!” she said. “We’ll be right down!”
“All right,” Miyabi said, but gave Risako a long glance before turning to leave, the other girl giving a longing look after.
“Thanks for finding my hairbrush!” she called, but Miyabi did nothing more than raise a hand in acknowledgement as she headed out the door. The girl apparently hadn’t noticed the meaning of her and Airi’s exchange.
“You can go after her, you know,” Chisato said in an amused voice, now apparently satisfied enough with the new couple.
“I will,” Risako said. “I have a few more things to get ready anyway.” She looked to Airi. “I think I… will… accept Miya’s offer…” she said, only a trifle hesitantly.
Airi smiled. “Good! It won’t be so lonely in the tower then. I’ll look forward to seeing you there!”
“Me too!” Chisato called behind her shoulder as she stuffed a few more shirts into her bag. Airi turned her smile on her other friend, her eyes widening slightly.
“Great!” Risako said, her voice rising in excitement. “I’m so happy!” She really did seem so. After giving a hug to the both of them – Chisato around her waist from behind – she almost danced out of the door toward the stairs.
Airi turned back to her own bag, tossing a last couple articles in Chisato’s direction while they were quiet a moment. “I take it that means you accept my offer too?” she asked finally, pulling her suitcase closed while the other girl still worked, apparently focused on her task.
Chisato grunted in affirmation. “Like you said, House Matsuura will be a lonely place. I won’t know hardly anyone, and I’m terrified how the new students will act toward us, especially once they find out how I know you people…”
Airi nearly giggled at the girl’s word choice.
“Plus…” she said, closing up her own bag and turning to Airi with what might have been even a hopeful expression. “I think I’ve finally realized there’s more to things than I assumed.”
“Well, you know what they say when you assume…” Airi said sagely as the two girls headed for the door. With a long look back at the room she might not see again for a long time, Airi turned off the light switch as they headed for the stairs themselves.
“You’ve grown…” Chisato said as they walked down the stairs. Airi raised a questioning eyebrow to her. The second floor seemed to be deserted, the rooms looking vacant as everyone must have already finished getting ready. “I mean, everyone seems to be forcing the leader role on you, but you seem to fit it now.”
Airi flushed, hugging her suitcase before her. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “I think a lot of you seem stronger than I ever will be.”
Chisato only smiled in response.
As they took the last staircase to the main floor, Airi cast a glance out of the window halfway down. There seemed to be twice as many people outside as there were the last time she looked, and more of them seemed to be walking around now, as if anxious themselves about something.
“I think they know we’re leaving…” Chisato mused from beside her. Airi didn’t disagree. “I know I’ll be happy to put some good distance between us and them. There are so many now, they’re really starting to give me the creeps.”
“Yeah, it’ll be nice,” Airi said as they stepped off the last stair. “At least until they discover where we’ve gone to. Ai-chan and Gaki-san will be sending out that press release soon.”
“But they’ll still be out of sight, right?” Chisato asked, in what was not really a question as they began to hear the hum of voices from what must be the large gathering up ahead. “I mean, Seishin’s grounds are spacious. People standing watch outside won’t be this close anymore. It’ll be just us and the teachers.”
Airi stayed silent, her thoughts drifting to possibilities of what might be, as well as what Miyabi might know. It could be nothing, but if she knew the girl as well as she thought she did, she could swear she was hiding something.
Upon reaching the hall to the front rooms, the voices suddenly became louder, and they joined the group of girls that was spilling out of those rooms even into the hall. She almost gasped. She couldn’t have even guessed there were this many in the house. Since they all ate at different times now, and most kept to certain parts of the house, she realized there hadn’t been an occasion where everyone gathered together like this, so they hadn’t gotten a good visual of the number before. Despite Chisato’s words, she suddenly felt woefully inadequate at the expectations they all seemed to have of her. Her friend for her part also seemed amazed by the size of the group.
When they reached the girls at the back of the gathering, who Airi didn’t even recognize, they all became silent when they noticed her arrival, and turned big eyes full of awe onto her. She suddenly remembered why she didn’t recognize them. She sighed inwardly. Perhaps that was a mistake – maybe if she’d made more effort to get to know everyone, they wouldn’t think the way they do. But upon seeing just how many they were, she wondered if that was even possible, and it was definitely too late now as once they returned to Seishin she’d probably barely even see many of them.
“There they are!” came a familiar voice from one of the rooms over the din, and Airi peered through the door to try to find its source. She couldn’t distinguish it, but once girls realized who it was directed toward, and recognized Airi, they scooted closer together to either side to open up at least a line of eyesight to Reina, with Miyabi standing next to her, Risako of course not far from her side looking as if she was having the most wonderful day ever. Seeing Miyabi’s energetic expression too made Airi realize Risako must have informed the girl of her decision.
“Ok! We can finally get out of this place!” Miyabi called over to them. She cast a hesitant glance behind her, where their parents were nearly in tears and obviously holding themselves back from hugging their daughters goodbye again.
Airi saw her own there as well, although they just waved once they saw her. She waved back, finding it curious how calm they seemed to be relative to the others. Then again, with their newfound pride in their daughters, it was likely they felt they were just starting over again with them, and now seeing them go away so soon. Airi smiled, happy that she’d always had such a good relationship with her own parents.
They had decided that the parents would stay behind to clean up and look after the house, as well as their own since they still needed work after the storm. They would also branch out to help others, with their newfound status at being the parents of the current most famous girls in the nation. They had wanted to say goodbye to them all at the school at least, as well as see how its reconstruction was coming along, but Miyabi was rather anxiously insistent that they stay here, and since it was up to her who came to begin with, it was a point that was difficult to argue. Airi still didn’t know how she would manage to take the girls and not them, since they were all in this small space, and now was even more worried about all the girls being able to go since she knew exactly how many there were. She wondered if Miyabi did, since she didn’t seem worried about anything, but then realized it was likely a stupid concern.
“I could have easily taken us all there with you two still up in your bedroom,” Miyabi said with a smug smile, “But I thought it would be polite to make sure you were all ready.”
“Thanks for that,” Chisato called over to her in mock gratitude, but the girl’s grin only widened.
“Okay, is everyone ready to return to Seishin?!” Ai-chan shouted, and Airi noticed her and Gaki-san for the first time standing not far from Miyabi as well.
The crowd of girls generally shouted their assent, though Airi noticed that some were very excited while others still appeared unsure of how to feel. Aside from it being school, the place still contained bad memories for many of them, especially those who had lost friends there. However, she herself was anxious to see what they would think when they actually returned. They had all taken this into account when preparing the school for their arrival; things wouldn’t be quite the same as they used to… Twisting her hair in the thought, her mind drifted to idly wonder where Maimi was, not seeing her in a cursory glance around the crowd.
“All right,” Miyabi said, seeming somewhat uncomfortable at being the center of attention. “Everyone close your eyes.” They did as she was told, even Airi, who smiled since she knew that part wasn’t necessary. The girl did love drama. “One… Two…” Airi felt Chisato’s hand grab her own, and smiled. “All right!” Miyabi called. “Open your eyes!”
Before she opened her own, Airi knew something was different. There was a change in the way the air stirred around her, and in the smells that suddenly came into her nose. She could also feel the Sun much more strongly; something that only heightened the growing excitement within her.
Opening her eyes, she heard gasps from all around, though she didn’t utter one of her own. Chisato did though, and she felt the hand on hers tighten. “It’s so beautiful!” her friend breathed, and she looked around to enjoy the scene herself.
Right before them was a fountain that seemed to come straight out of the ground, and emptied into a drain circling it at about a two meter radius. The morning Sun made the water sparkle, and through it Airi could see the star set into the Headmaster’s building – Headmistresses’ building now, she corrected herself – shining just as brightly as any star in the sky. Below it and above the main entrance hung a banner proclaiming “Welcome back!” and there were similar decorations on the classroom buildings to each side of the plaza. They really did their best to provide a happy atmosphere to what could easily become a bittersweet return.
There were also a few teachers, those who had been able to come already, gathered together to the side of the fountain, and they clapped and beamed in amazement as the students suddenly appeared. Some of the girls went up to greet them as well – probably those who were the favorites – and Airi smiled at the conversations. For her part, Airi noticed Mita-sensei, one of her own favorite teachers, and pulling Chisato along ran up toward him. She’d known Ai-chan and Gaki-san contacted some, but what she didn’t know was who all was coming.
“Mita-sensei!” she shouted as she neared the man, but for some reason she felt some resistance from Chisato. “C’mon Chisa,” she said, pulling the girl along as if she was a ragdoll despite her friend’s best efforts to hold her back for whatever reason.
“Osuzu, I don’t know if this is such a…” Chisato said in a breathless voice as she tried to keep up, her eyebrows furrowing at how easily Airi was dragging her along. What the taller girl didn’t realize was that unlike when they played, this time she wasn’t holding back in her strength.
Arriving at Mita-sensei, Airi beamed a smile at him, but when the man noticed her while he was talking to another student, his eyes suddenly widened and he seemed to forget everything else, jerking into a half-bow.
“S-Suzuki-san!” he managed, still bowing. “It’s a pleasure!”
“What’s a pleasure?” Airi asked, confused at his reaction to her.
“Osuzu…” Chisato said, tugging pointlessly at her arm.
“I’m… well… I’m glad to see you back here!” the teacher said, his voice adopting a breathless quality. At least the man had stopped bowing, but he seemed unsure what to do with himself otherwise.
Airi smiled again. “I’m glad to see you here too! I’m looking forward to our lessons starting up again!”
“Oh, right,” he said, nodding. “Lessons…” He reached out as if to pat Airi on the shoulder, but then withdrew his hand as if it was about to be burnt. Presenting a nervous smile, he continued, “I wouldn’t worry too much about them, Suzuki-san.”
“But I must!” Airi protested, feeling almost scandalized. “I want to do the best I can so I can graduate and go to a good college!”
The other girls around them were now staring at Airi as well, all with wide eyes, and as Airi became distracted Chisato was able to pull her off by themselves, Mita-sensei smiling after them, but also wiping his brow as if having just exerted himself. He almost looked glad they went away!
“Quit it, Chisa,” she scolded, shaking off the girl’s hand, but it quickly returned.
“Osuzu,” Chisato said, trying earnestly to make her listen this time, “I think you shouldn’t harass the teachers right away like that…”
“Harass them?” Airi asked with a blank face. “I was just happy to see him!”
“Well, with the way things are now…” Chisato said, seeming uncomfortable saying any more. However, suddenly Airi realized what her friend meant. The teachers were happily talking with most of the students, but they also fought distraction as they looked among others who didn’t come up to them. Those others included her, who seemed to draw the majority of the stares, as well as Reina and Miyabi, who were drifting to the side of the crowd, most of the other girls giving them a wide berth as they stared in amazement, still apparently surprised that they had all actually made it there. Risako stayed close to Miyabi similarly to how Chisato kept next to Airi, and Airi finally could see Maimi, who had already separated from the others and was heading in a direction to the right of the building with the shining star, where beyond the trees a tall forbidding structure loomed from the mountainside.
Airi gazed that direction for a moment too. It was the Ivory Tower, a place they especially had many bad memories at, but where they also were moving into. Airi had gone on a previous trip in to fix it up slightly for her move, but now that she would be there for good…
“I think we should follow them on over, Osuzu…” Chisato said, motioning toward Miyabi, Reina, and Risako, who were now also heading in the direction where Maimi had disappeared into the trees, as the other girls began to disperse excitedly to their respective Houses. Airi gave one last longing look toward the teachers, who were still casting anxious glances her way, before sighing and letting Chisato pull her on after the others toward the tower.
When they entered the trees and the din behind faded behind them, Airi mumbled, “And here I was hoping things would be different once we got back here…”
Chisato eyed her from her side as they walked. “I’m not sure what you were expecting… but I think it’ll be worse here. There’s more space, so it’s easier for groups to keep to themselves. Also, there’s more of a structured hierarchy…” she finished, looking up through the trees to where views of the stone of the tower flashed in bits and pieces from time to time.
“Well, it’ll be easier when new Heads are elected for the Houses,” Airi said as they broke through the last trees toward the entrance to the tower, where the three who preceded them were apparently hanging out for the moment. At the sight of them, they peered over, Risako the only one with a smile on her face.
When the two new arrivals approached them Airi greeted each with a smile, but Reina spoke up, “Well, Airi, as for that…” She seemed a little uncomfortable going on, and looked to Miyabi for assistance.
“It seems the students think that with us living here,” Miyabi said, “And also since Maimi’s still around to lead House Matsuura, they don’t need to elect new Heads. They seem quite happy following us, and in fact don’t really feel like they could follow anyone else in the same way.”
Airi stared at the two Skulls. “What? Us be Heads?” she asked. “But… there are four of us!” she said, trying to think of an excuse. Her hopes for things to change were dying and getting a very slow burial. “And I at least am too young!”
There was an uncomfortable silence for the moment as all four of the other girls looked among each other, but surprisingly a fifth appeared from inside the tower to break it, her eyes fixed on Airi’s own as she stood just within the doorway.
“There won’t be Heads anymore,” Maimi said. “Just the school student leaders. We tried to get them to see the sense of what it would be like when we graduated or left, but they seemed to resist even the possibility of that happening. Also, there’ll be one of us primarily responsible for each House. That’ll of course be me for Matsuura, Reina for Nakazawa, and Natsuyaki for Goto.”
“Responsible…” Reina muttered. “I guess my fun’s gonna be over…” At those words, Chisato gave her a very level look she seemed not to notice.
Miyabi though just grinned, if a bit sickly. “Still hate me that much, huh? And after all I did for you!” Maimi raised a questioning eyebrow at her, but didn’t seem to really want an explanation.
Airi however looked among the others, her eyes resting on Chisato and Risako for a moment. “Don’t look at us,” Chisato said in a dodgy tone. “We’re just along for the ride.”
“Well good,” Airi said. “Maybe they’ve finally realized not to expect all that much from me.” Despite the relief she was sure she should feel along with her words, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed as well. She definitely didn’t want a leadership role, but at the same time she felt like she should be doing more than just something like what Chisato had said – “being along for the ride…”
As the others fell into another uncomfortable silence, Airi eventually continued, “Maybe everyone else will get to see me as just one of them again too.”
However, she noticed that Miyabi and Reina were giving each other a look, and eventually Reina sighed as if in resignation. “Airi…” she said as if about to explain something more. “I think how things will be structured will be more of a council of the student leaders, with Ai-chan and Risa a part of it as well… and you two,” she said, giving looks to Chisato and Risako, whose eyes widened.
“But…” Risako began, but Miyabi cut her off with a finger to her lips, which also had the effect of making the younger girl blush.
“You two have already taken leadership roles to some extent since the battle when we last left Seishin, and the students remember that. They won’t look to you for all the answers, but you definitely have the respect of a lot of them.” She turned to look at the tower rising above them. “Living here is only going to increase that perception.”
“I just had to accept your offer to come here with you…” Chisato grumbled at Airi’s side, but despite the disagreeable words, she didn’t move from being pressed up tightly against her, something that Maimi was still watching closely. Seeing that, Airi clutched her friend’s hand tighter and pulled her even closer. Let the girl think what she would…
“Anyway…” Reina said, giving a sidelong glance to Chisato, “So it’s kind of like a council, and in a council there’s generally someone in charge of it. Remember what I told you the other day about being an executive?” she asked Airi. Airi nodded, but now upon getting an idea of where the girl was going with this, she wasn’t sure she liked it at all. “I think that’s more the role you’re expected to fill. Not in charge of something specific, like one of the Houses, but the person in charge in general. Practically even higher than the Headmistresses, at least in things that aren’t normal school administration matters.”
“Great…” Airi said, her stomach falling seemingly all the way down to her feet. Then again, there was still that part of her that was satisfied with how things seemed to have ended up… This time, it was Chisato tightening the hold on her own hand.
“Well,” Maimi said, peering past them over Airi’s shoulder back toward the path. “Shall we head in? There are more people moving in than we originally thought – a whole six of us! I think we’ll have to convert one of the sitting rooms to a bedroom. Maybe more, if…” she trailed off, giving glances to Risako and Chisato.
“No need for that,” Chisato said.
“We’ll be fine sharing rooms. Right, Miya?” Risako asked, looking up at the former Skull with bright eyes.
“Of course,” Miyabi responded with a grin, and right there in the middle of them all pulled the younger girl in for a long kiss.
“All right, that’s enough for me,” Maimi said, sounding disgusted, but before she darted into the tower Airi noticed her cast a glance over her shoulder again. This time she looked behind herself as well to see two girls coming up the path. One she most definitely recognized, and her eyes narrowed unconsciously.
“Come on,” Airi growled into Chisato’s ear, and pulled her in before the Maeda girl and her apparent friend even reached halfway there.
“Osuzu…” Chisato said as they walked through the halls of the tower, the shorter girl peering around at everything yet trying to appear disinterested. She’d never before been in this place that was nearly holy to many Seishin students, after all. Airi, remembering her and her friends’ past experiences here, wished she hadn’t either.
“Yeah?” Airi asked distractedly as they walked toward what would be their new rooms.
“What’s going on with you and Maimi?” her friend responded. “And there’s something with Yuuka too…” she added carefully as if to not upset Airi.
“Nothing is going on,” Airi said curtly. Why was the girl being like that? She was not upset. Or jealous. Not at all.
“Oh,” Chisato said softly. “Just thought I’d ask.” She let the subject drop, but Airi had a feeling they would resume this talk later. That’s how the two of them were, and now that they’d be living together full-time again, and especially while Airi occupied the lonely role that she was likely to have as this “executive”, she had a feeling the two would have nothing at all to hide from each other before long.
“I’m so happy to be home…” Airi said with a sigh as the girls marched past the stark walls they didn’t have time to make cheery since no one but them would see them anyway, and toward one of the rooms that until now housed only those who were their worst enemies. However, now the line between friend and enemy… and lover… was becoming blurrier all the time.
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Ah! Chapter 4 is posted before I could comment on Chapter 3! :O This is what I get for playing video games all weekend long. XD
Miya is a very dangerous person. XD Her mind reading skills can totally mess up other people's lives. Better keep an eye out on her.
But it's nice to see them back at a bigger place instead of being stuck in the cramped house. Just reading about it makes me feel like I'm in a more spacious area. XD
But, back to the Tower they go; it's like their own prison. ;)
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I didn't realize I missed ch. 3. :( So double comment from me!!
Ch. 3:
At first, I thought they were gonna go spy on Airi but then I remembered that Yuuka-chan has a crush on Maimi! :lol: *sighs* Poor girl. I have a question: Are Aika and Yuuka-chan friends in real life? Anyway, eggs! XD They're cute, but too many of them for me to get used to. Love how Yuuka-chan is defending Reina. You tell em, Yuuka! :P Sounds like Seishin is coming along as well as can be expected. I'm really beginning to think it's a good thing, these girls need reality back. LOL at TakaGaki telling them to go to bed. I was like, "Whose Yuuka-chan going to find?" as soon as she left. Blanket is a good excuse but... :P LMAO she doesn't know that Miya reads minds!!!! Whoa....can't believe Yuuka did that!! :w00t:
Awww, Airi and Chisa~ :heart: Oh no, I hope Yuuka-chan and Maimi didn't..... :shocked: I'm glad that Airi isn't hung up on Miya. The end is cute though~~~ :wub:
Ch. 4:
Pssh, Risako and her hairbrush! XD *gasp* Airi invited Chisa to move in with her?! Now THOSE are BFFs~ At first I was all, "Why is Manoeri hanging around Reina?" :? ....then I remembered that they had sex. :lol: It's really cute, and pretty considerate, that Risako comes to her friends to ask about moving in with Miya. I can't help but feel kindabad for Airi, she's under all this pressure of being some super leader. It's nice to see that everyone respects her and stuff but she needs to be treated like a normal person, even if she isn't. The thing with the teacher was just :sweatdrop:
Keep up the good work, rokun!! *hugs*
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You made my day, seriously. I was hoping for distraction and you updated, yay.
For some reason, I feel like smacking all those silly girls. Powerful as they are, it's evident they're still teenagers (even Reina). But well, that's part of the charm, I guess.
Miya's been getting stronger, right? She sounds and seems more confident about things now. Also, her acts are bit more controlled. Just as JFC said, she's a dangerous girl... Risako's in for the ride of her life, figuratively speaking, of course. :P
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Oh, interesting Miyabi and Risako.
Risako Kawai was in this episode.
asking for advice to her friends. :lol:
uy yes...
Airi runs out of advice.
Airi escape of Maimi...
Airi you are a coward. :banghead: XD
Admits that these jealous Airi.
but ...
Airi is rare as show your jealousy ...
Maimi never escape you, and at least it gave you the opportunity to explain to you Airi. :lol:
Wow!!
I love this part in Seishun!
The tour was great and in great detail in seishun.
Miyabi accomplice of Maimi.
It's funny the relationship between these two.
Airi when she finds out what did Miya with Yuuka ...
The advice you gave Miya to Yuuka with regard to andalusia Maimi ..
Seishun description of that place was great!!! :)
GanbattaA with his next chapterR!!
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Dude, thanks for not ragging on me for forgetting the Yuuka raburabus Maimi thing.
:mon sweat:
Chapter 4 – A Happy Return
*SOCKO'S HAIRBRUSH PANIC*
Well, looks like someone's getting back into a somewhat regular routine. :P
At least Risako had been keeping her away from Reina the last few days, something that had disturbed Airi far more than anything else. Then again, for her part Reina had seemed quite indisposed as well. This time she cast a sad, sidelong gaze at Chisato.
She’d tried to get her friend to talk to the girl, but since Erina was basically glued to Reina’s side whenever she wasn’t alone, Airi didn’t blame Chisato for not managing it yet.
Eeep. That's really got to be hard for Chisato. Though I can't help but wonder how long it will be before Reina "moves on" from Manoeri. :cry:
Then again, in a way Chisato’s situation mirrored her own. Since finding Yuuka and Maimi together that morning, she’d avoided talking to Maimi at any time except during gatherings, like a meal or a meeting.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh crap. Maimi...you didn't stop Yuukarin.
:OMG:
“Hey, do you guys know where my hairbrush is?” Risako’s voice asked from behind them, making both girls nearly jump.
...
Airi raised an eyebrow at her. “You all have lived here just as much as I for the past few weeks, and kami-sama knows some of you probably know where things are around here a lot better than me by now.”
“Y’know, Osuzu,” Chisato said, having turned back to her packing. “It’s understandable you getting a big head and all, but if you start calling yourself ‘kami-sama’, there’s no way I’m moving in with you…”
...
“Just pray I don’t start circling around you doing the kappa dance,” Airi warned in response.
KAPPA AIRI! :heart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-tBcZnDH04&fmt=22
“Miya asked me to move in there with her too…” Risako went on as the other girls continued with their fight, but it abruptly stopped at her words and the two stared at her, their hands still locked together. Risako blushed at the sudden scrutiny.
“She did?” Chisato asked, apparently surprised. Airi had a few questions too, but before she could ask Risako turned and, with a glance out the door, closed it carefully before turning back to them.
“Yes, but I haven’t accepted yet,” the girl said, the blush still coloring her features. “I told her I’d let her know when she took us all over. I kind of wanted to talk to you guys about it… but was afraid to…”
I can see how Socko would be uneasy about this, seeing as how she knows (at least I think she does) about Miyabi and Airi's previous relationship. Now I'm wondering if Miyabi's only using Socko in some sort of plan...instead of actually being with her because she wants to be with her.
Airi cleared her throat before she began to blush herself. “I think if she’s making gestures like that to you, then she really means it and will treat you well.” Suddenly her voice adopted a melancholy quality. “She doesn’t love lightly…”
“I’m not so sure of that, Osuzu…” Chisato said skeptically, but Risako was just watching Airi.
Yeah, I'm with Chisato on this one. When you take into account what Airi said about Miyabi not loving lightly, it makes it hard to believe that the Miyabi would be over her and would have already moved on in the short time that's passed since Airi broke things off (especially when you take into account how the two of them...well...you know...how Airi basically "gave her first time" to Miyabi).
“I wanted… I wanted to make sure you would be okay with that…”
In all this dubiousness (is that even a word), it's really sweet so see how Socko's concerned about how Airi feels about all this. She's been carrying a torch for Miyabi for a while, even before the initial conflict that brought them together. Even with that though, she's not willing to risk throwing away her friendship with Airi over it.
Pretty damn noble if you ask me. :yep:
“If being together makes the two of you happy, then I would be a very bad friend in return if I had any influence on keeping you apart. I don’t want that to happen. Please, don’t worry about my feelings in this. Besides…” she continued, withdrawing her hand and looking down with some shame herself. “It was I who was responsible for what happened between the two of us anyway. I have no right to have any say in what she does from now on, and honestly, because of the same reasons I let her go for, since my heart lies with another I’m not sure if I’m even capable of such hurt.”
Don't know if anyone else could have said it better than Airi did right here. She's not Miyabi's keeper, nor is she Socko's. She willingly took herself out of the picture, and as such she knows that she no longer has any right to say what either of them can or cannot do. If they choose to get together and it makes her uncomfortable, then she's just going to have to deal with it.
“How are you getting so embarrassed?” Chisato asked. “You’re the one dating Miyabi Natsuyaki. Between her and Reina, I’m not sure any of us should have anything left to be embarrassed about!”
“What do you mean?” Risako asked, showing a confused face to her smaller friend.
“You know…” Chisato said hesitantly. “Those girls are very… aggressive…” she said, now blushing and looking down herself. “Being with them, it’s hard to keep any shame about anything.”
Chisato's right. They ARE The Skulls, after all. :lol:
Seeing Risako’s still somewhat blank face, Airi quietly interjected, “She means how your point of view changes after doing things like having sex.”
Airi didn’t know it was possible, but Risako seemed to blush deeper. “Oh…” the girl said in a weak voice. “Well… We haven’t done anything like that…”
“You haven’t?” Chisato asked in apparent surprise, her eyes widening,
Socko = :mon huh2:
Airi = :bingo:
Socko = :shy1: :mon whimper:
Chisato = :mon spit:
at that moment the door swung open.
Miyabi looked in, holding a hairbrush in one hand. “Oh hey,” she said. “You’re all in here.” By her eyes though, Airi didn’t think the girl was the least bit surprised. As she continued looking at the girl, she couldn’t help a slight pang of nervousness at wondering how much of their conversation she might have caught. “Hey kid, I found your hairbrush,” she said, tossing what she was holding into Risako’s lap. Risako just blinked down at it as if having forgotten she was looking for it.
“That’s awfully convenient, you finding it,” Airi said with a twist to her mouth.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees...convenient.
:mon wtfmm:
“Where had it gone, anyway?”
“Um…” the other responded. “I just found it lying around somewhere.”
“Lying around…” Airi said, nodding and grinning as well.
Miyabi seemed to notice the suspicion in her tone and cast her eyes past them, clearing her throat and changing the subject.
Airi doesn't sound convinced...nor should she be, if you ask me. :-X
There seemed to be twice as many people outside as there were the last time she looked, and more of them seemed to be walking around now, as if anxious themselves about something.
“I think they know we’re leaving…” Chisato mused from beside her. Airi didn’t disagree. “I know I’ll be happy to put some good distance between us and them. There are so many now, they’re really starting to give me the creeps.”
Well, admiration is one thing, but the whole worship thing? Creeped out can be putting it mildly. :-\
“Yeah, it’ll be nice,” Airi said as they stepped off the last stair. “At least until they discover where we’ve gone to. Ai-chan and Gaki-san will be sending out that press release soon.”
“But they’ll still be out of sight, right?” Chisato asked, in what was not really a question as they began to hear the hum of voices from what must be the large gathering up ahead. “I mean, Seishin’s grounds are spacious. People standing watch outside won’t be this close anymore. It’ll be just us and the teachers.”
It depends, I guess, on what style of campus the school is on. With Airi's house, the masses were respectful enough to stay a relatively decent distance away and not storm the house. Hopefully, they're the same when it comes to the school campus (though it could be simpler if the campus was gated/closed like "private property"). The girls ARE still going to be going there for an actual purpose, after all.
Airi stayed silent, her thoughts drifting to possibilities of what might be, as well as what Miyabi might know. It could be nothing, but if she knew the girl as well as she thought she did, she could swear she was hiding something.
Oh, I had that feeling by the second chapter. :(
Upon reaching the hall to the front rooms, the voices suddenly became louder, and they joined the group of girls that was spilling out of those rooms even into the hall. She almost gasped. She couldn’t have even guessed there were this many in the house. Since they all ate at different times now, and most kept to certain parts of the house, she realized there hadn’t been an occasion where everyone gathered together like this, so they hadn’t gotten a good visual of the number before. Despite Chisato’s words, she suddenly felt woefully inadequate at the expectations they all seemed to have of her. Her friend for her part also seemed amazed by the size of the group.
Damn, Airi's house must be even bigger than we thought to have housed all of them for so long. :P
“Okay, is everyone ready to return to Seishin?!” Ai-chan shouted, and Airi noticed her and Gaki-san for the first time standing not far from Miyabi as well.
The crowd of girls generally shouted their assent, though Airi noticed that some were very excited while others still appeared unsure of how to feel. Aside from it being school, the place still contained bad memories for many of them, especially those who had lost friends there.
Well, during the time that they've been planning the return, Aichan and Risa have hopefully been doing what they can to "clean up" the place to make it look less of a disaster zone. The last thing they need now is for them all to return to the remnants of a war zone rather than their school campus.
*STUDENTS RETURN*
Oh, nicely done TakaGaki. :thumbsup
There were also a few teachers, those who had been able to come already, gathered together to the side of the fountain, and they clapped and beamed in amazement as the students suddenly appeared.
Mmm...wonder how many of the teachers knew about what really happened here? And even if they did, this is still, in all likelihood, the first time any of them have witnessed the use of their powers first-hand.
Airi noticed Mita-sensei, one of her own favorite teachers, and pulling Chisato along ran up toward him. She’d known Ai-chan and Gaki-san contacted some, but what she didn’t know was who all was coming.
...
“S-Suzuki-san!” he managed, still bowing. “It’s a pleasure!”
“What’s a pleasure?” Airi asked, confused at his reaction to her.
“Osuzu…” Chisato said, tugging pointlessly at her arm.
“I’m… well… I’m glad to see you back here!” the teacher said, his voice adopting a breathless quality. At least the man had stopped bowing, but he seemed unsure what to do with himself otherwise.
Airi smiled again. “I’m glad to see you here too! I’m looking forward to our lessons starting up again!”
“Oh, right,” he said, nodding. “Lessons…” He reached out as if to pat Airi on the shoulder, but then withdrew his hand as if it was about to be burnt. Presenting a nervous smile, he continued, “I wouldn’t worry too much about them, Suzuki-san.”
Ooooooooooooooooooooh I don't like the sound of this. Word must have spread of how powerful Airi has become, and it's got this teacher (and possibly the entire staff) thinking that he has to give her a free ride or "risk her wrath". This is DEFINITELY not what Airi (nor the others) need to try and return to a more normal life.
:dizzy:
Airi gave one last longing look toward the teachers, who were still casting anxious glances her way, before sighing and letting Chisato pull her on after the others toward the tower.
When they entered the trees and the din behind faded behind them, Airi mumbled, “And here I was hoping things would be different once we got back here…”
If it helps any, the majority of the girls will most likely be able to go back to how things were before. Chances are it'll be the girls with the powers who have the hardest time, now that everyone is aware of said powers.
“It seems the students think that with us living here,” Miyabi said, “And also since Maimi’s still around to lead House Matsuura, they don’t need to elect new Heads. They seem quite happy following us, and in fact don’t really feel like they could follow anyone else in the same way.”
...
“There won’t be Heads anymore,” Maimi said. “Just the school student leaders. We tried to get them to see the sense of what it would be like when we graduated or left, but they seemed to resist even the possibility of that happening. Also, there’ll be one of us primarily responsible for each House. That’ll of course be me for Matsuura, Reina for Nakazawa, and Natsuyaki for Goto.”
Oh that's just great. Maimi at least has experience being the head of a house, but moving back was meant to be (at least in part) a new start for everyone. While choosing to keep things (leadership-wise) the way they are may keep a little bit more stability during this transitory time, they have to be careful as it looks like that the other students are really getting too dependant on them.
Reina sighed as if in resignation. “Airi…” she said as if about to explain something more. “I think how things will be structured will be more of a council of the student leaders, with Ai-chan and Risa a part of it as well… and you two,” she said, giving looks to Chisato and Risako, whose eyes widened.
“But…” Risako began, but Miyabi cut her off with a finger to her lips, which also had the effect of making the younger girl blush.
“You two have already taken leadership roles to some extent since the battle when we last left Seishin, and the students remember that. They won’t look to you for all the answers, but you definitely have the respect of a lot of them.” She turned to look at the tower rising above them. “Living here is only going to increase that perception.”
Sorry Airi, but as it's been done with others before you, like it or not, the proverbial baton has been placed in you hands, and you're going to have to run with it.
“I just had to accept your offer to come here with you…” Chisato grumbled at Airi’s side, but despite the disagreeable words, she didn’t move from being pressed up tightly against her, something that Maimi was still watching closely. Seeing that, Airi clutched her friend’s hand tighter and pulled her even closer. Let the girl think what she would…
And of course, she still has to deal with the whole Maimi thing and how people apparently are now perceiving her friendship with Chisato. :O
“We’ll be fine sharing rooms. Right, Miya?” Risako asked, looking up at the former Skull with bright eyes.
“Of course,” Miyabi responded with a grin, and right there in the middle of them all pulled the younger girl in for a long kiss.
Of course she just HAD to do that in front of everyone.
:stoned:
“All right, that’s enough for me,” Maimi said, sounding disgusted, but before she darted into the tower Airi noticed her cast a glance over her shoulder again. This time she looked behind herself as well to see two girls coming up the path. One she most definitely recognized, and her eyes narrowed unconsciously.
“Come on,” Airi growled into Chisato’s ear, and pulled her in before the Maeda girl and her apparent friend even reached halfway there.
Oh crap, don't tell me Yuuka's going to room with Maimi???
:stunned:
“I’m so happy to be home…” Airi said
With all they've gone through, this is probably more like returning to the home you grew up in after having been away from it. It's still similar, but the feeling just isn't quite the same as you remember it to be.
the girls marched past the stark walls they didn’t have time to make cheery since no one but them would see them anyway, and toward one of the rooms that until now housed only those who were their worst enemies.
Come to think of it, who's moving into Captain's old room? That's probably a little unsettling, to say the least.
However, now the line between friend and enemy… and lover… was becoming blurrier all the time.
It would obviously be nice if they could go back to the simplicity of what their lives used to be. Fate just won't let that happen.
-
Wah! i demand more Rii-chan--Miya!.....hope the next chapter would focus in those two.....well.....i kind of starting Airi when i watch the Buono's concert....she's a great singer!.......especially when she and Miya's voice blend in.....haha,,,,well, Im a maimi-airi fan too.....that's why im so touch at the end of Bouno's concert....Maimi's there at the backstage........ :luvluv1: :luvluv1: :luvluv1: :luvluv1:oh! how sweet!
-
Wah! i demand more Rii-chan--Miya!.....hope the next chapter would focus in those two.....well.....i kind of starting Airi when i watch the Buono's concert....she's a great singer!.......especially when she and Miya's voice blend in.....haha,,,,well, Im a maimi-airi fan too.....that's why im so touch at the end of Bouno's concert....Maimi's there at the backstage........ :luvluv1: :luvluv1: :luvluv1: :luvluv1:oh! how sweet!
(http://www.imgur.com/files/081222/Momomoko,-Miyabi,-Maimi-and-Airi.gif)
You referred to this part of the concert?
AH! if, I wonder ...
What being done in the concert of Bueno! Maimi?
Maimi I think it is like Ai-chan.
I know that Ai-chan also attends the concerts of other members of H! P.
Ai-chan and Maimi seem to be two girls who like to be aware of others. good leaders.
And as Airi has had many concerts both of Buono! as of ° C-ute Maimi maybe went to see the state of Airi.
or do not know ...
Airi has had too much work in late 2007 and throughout 2008.
Gomene off topic...
-
yah.....i agree with you.....Yajima, so sweet of her! :luvluv2: :luvluv2: :luvluv2: like Ai-chan!
they're both good leaders.....hmm!
-
yah.....i agree with you.....Yajima, so sweet of her! :luvluv2: :luvluv2: :luvluv2: like Ai-chan!
they're both good leaders.....hmm!
hehe Arigato... :P :)
Yes.
Ai-chan and maimi are excellent leaders. :P
But now a new leader is about to enter the H! P.
Wú Sī Xuán (ShenShen) of the unit Ice Cream. :lol: :P
And Miyabi is so cute touched the hand of Maimi in the gif. XD in real life they are good friends.
this is fun xD :lol: XD And in the history of Rokun ... XD
Miyabi and Maimi not have a good friendship XD
-
But now a new leader is about to enter the H! P.
Wú Sī Xuán (ShenShen) of the unit Ice Cream.
majide? another chinese member???hmm.....tsunku-san gathering new member of hp family...er, well, no wonder about it since the members of elder club will graduate this march....all of them.... :fainted: :scared: :tantrum: :on blackhole: :pleeease:
-
So it's been a long time... Yeah. I've been putting this chapter together piecemeal for a few weeks now, so hopefully it makes some sense together. XD You know I don't like to make grand revisions after I've already written something... Anyway, I know I said more action would be in this chapter, and maybe there is a little, but I guess next one will be fun? :D Thanks for all your comments, and keep em coming. :) And lol @ the leader discussion. XD Yay for an interesting thread! Oh, and JFC, the Kappa Airi I was thinking of was more like this, starting at about 1:30 XD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRayLPrEnbw
Chapter 5 – School Daze
Airi stumbled down the hallway with her arms full of the books she didn’t bother putting back into her bag after the last class of the day, which just finished. Chisato and Risako tailed her, trying to keep up, though Risako seemed to be torn between staying with Airi and running off to find Miyabi wherever she might be. The other students she passed either just stared at her wide-eyed or smiled proudly in her direction, but she was used to either reaction by now and hardly even noticed anymore.
“You know, getting upset isn’t going to help anything…” Chisato said, now and again bursting into a short jog in order to keep up with her. She looked like she could keep running like that forever. “We could try having another talk with Takahashi-san… or Gaki-san.”
Yeah, like that would help. She’d tried that before, and despite the two schoolmistresses nodding and seeming to understand everything she was saying, nothing had changed in the slightest.
“Just think of it as the nice thing it is!” Risako exclaimed in a ‘why-are-you-being-so-dumb’ voice. “I mean, despite us living in the tower, we still are hardly able to even get any sleep at night.”
“Yeah, like you not getting any sleep has anything to do with what we’re talking about,” Chisato remarked with furrowed eyebrows, looking askance back at the other girl. Risako blushed and looked as if she wanted to say something, but seemed unable to open her mouth again.
Airi pushed her way out the front door of the classroom building and began to head across the fountain plaza, where many students congregated in groups below the Star of Seishin, as the large window in the Headmistresses’ building had come to be known. As usual she drew most eyes, and some of the new girls even gave short bows.
Seishin had been fully re-opened for just a few short days, after what turned out to be a rather short few weeks of preparation and enrollment of new students. Many continuing students were unable to return for one reason or another… aside from those that had died… so about half the population consisted of students whose eyes were always shaped like saucers whenever they caught sight of her.
Ai and Risa, despite their optimistic thinking, had been amazed at the quality – and haste – of the applications they received, and now the school was full of many of the brightest – and thus also wealthiest – girls in the country. It was to a point that some of the girls who were there before already felt disgruntled at how inadequate they thought themselves in comparison. That even included to some extent Chisato, but in her case at least schoolwork was hardly the primary thing on her mind.
Airi stopped near one of the benches encircling the fountain – newly added even since they’d arrived – and the area cleared out quickly as she decided to take a seat and not return directly to the tower as she’d taken to doing with respect to how the other students acted toward her. The students that cleared out didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves seeing her just sitting in their midst like that, some not even sure whether to go or stay, ending with them standing awkwardly in one place. Others alternated between staring and attempting to bow.
Airi did her best to ignore them. Chisato and Risako were surprised at her decision as well for a second, but ended up sitting to either side of her.
“It’s just not fair…” Airi said, still holding the books tightly to her chest. “Why should you guys get to do all the homework!?”
“Well… um…” Risako said, seeming unsure of how to go on.
“You can always do work on your own,” Chisato suggested. “I know you’ve already been doing that a bit.”
“Yeah,” Airi agreed, “But if I don’t get graded it’s like I did it for nothing. I mean, it’s not like I don’t have other things I could be doing…”
Chisato gave her a cockeyed glance. “…That’s exactly why they’re treating you like this. Everyone knows who you are and what you do. Shit, that delegation from the Emperor is coming today even.”
“I know,” Airi said with a dark glower. “But that’s not the reason. I know that even if it wasn’t for that stuff, they still wouldn’t let me do any regular schoolwork. It’s like they believe I’m different from them somehow.”
“Well,” Risako said, frowning at her, “You are.”
Chisato shot the girl a warning glare. “She’s right though,” she admitted. “They expect something different from you than from everyone else. So it’s not a matter of whether you have those other responsibilities or not, because that’s just the way things are.”
“Responsibilities,” Airi repeated in a dark voice, and Chisato seemed to mentally kick herself for saying the wrong thing. “It’s not like I asked for any of it.” The other two girls stayed quiet, as this topic had already come up among them many times before, and they both knew it was something Airi was quite touchy about.
“Airin!” someone called over to them, and Airi looked up at the crowds of girls in the plaza, which seemed to be growing for some reason, probably just because it was the end of the class day. A smaller group of just a few girls separated themselves from the others and advanced toward Airi and her friends. The other students peered at the new arrivals in amazement, impressed that they seemed to know her so well.
Chinami looked self-consciously at those others as she approached, Yurina walking quietly at her side. Chinami seemed bright as always, but Yurina was one of those girls who were taking it really hard with all the exceptional new students, so seemed to be frowning a lot as if she was under some self-imposed stress. Airi knew the teachers didn’t put ones like her down because of it though – if anything, because of her previous relationship to Airi and her friends, they treated her better than the others, who many thought of as just here for the reputation of attending school at the same place as the “sacred ones”, as the media had seemed to settle on calling them.
“It’s nice to see you out here,” Chinami said through her token smile. “We haven’t been able to get a hold of you hardly at all since everyone arrived.”
“I know…” Airi apologized.
“It’s been tough,” Chisato explained further, linking a supportive arm with Airi.
“I can imagine…” Chinami said, scrutinizing the three momentarily before glancing back at the students surrounding them.
“How’s everyone doing?” Risako asked, looking a bit uncomfortable.
“They’re all right. It’s like school’s pretty much back to normal,” Chinami responded. “There’s still maybe a little tension, but everyone’s getting used to working together again.”
“That’s good,” Airi stated, feeling more and more useless by the minute. By the discomfort from the two girls to each side of her, she had a feeling her friends felt similarly. Living in the tower themselves, they were nearly as detached from the lives of the rest of the students as she was.
“I wouldn’t say I’m all right,” Yurina said in a somewhat pouty voice. “I have to work hours and hours each day just to try and keep up with all the new girls…”
Chinami patted her shoulder absently. “I keep telling you that you work too hard. If you take it easier the teachers will understand.”
“But I don’t want them to treat me differently,” the younger girl responded in a tight voice.
Airi found herself staring off into space. She apparently wasn’t alone in her desires, although in her case, no matter what she did she couldn’t help it.
Apparently not catching Yurina’s meaning, Chinami went back to her original subject. “It’s definitely not as exciting as things were before, but I think a lot of people are secretly happy about that, despite their complaints of things being boring sometimes.”
“Boring?” Airi asked, finally looking fully up into the eyes of the other girls and noticing more and more students were gathering at a distance to watch them. “They think it’s too boring not to be in danger of their lives all the time? Too boring that girls aren’t dying left and right? Too boring that they don’t have to worry about their friends being captured and have who knows what done with afterward? They’re thinking it’s too boring?!”
Lost in her words, she at first didn’t even feel the hands of Chisato and Risako on either arm trying to pull her back. She had somehow stood and advanced toward the other girls, who were now stepping back themselves with slightly frightened looks in their eyes, Yurina absently reaching up to her shoulder as if by reflex.
Trying to compose herself, Airi looked beyond Chinami and Yurina to see two smaller girls – Kanon, and another who she believed was named Akari. The two of them looked much more frightened than their older friends before them.
She glanced to either side at Chisato and Risako, who were still tugging futilely at her arms, before she allowed them to pull her back down onto the bench. “I’m sorry,” she said, now looking past everyone into the trees stretching up toward the blue sky behind them. “But I wish everyone could just be happy with things having returned back to… normal. I think we’ve had enough excitement for our lifetimes, don’t you?”
Chinami looked back at her skeptically, with just a slight trace of fear still left. She was obviously more composed than the others; their fear still shown strongly on their faces. “Sure, Suzuki-san,” she said, looking Airi in the eyes. “We’ve all had plenty of excitement.” Yurina seemed to absently finger her shoulder, which Airi knew to be scarred. She’d almost forgotten the girl had been run through with a sword herself – Reina’s work. She sighed. Herself and Reina and Miyabi. Despite the others’ experience, none had been through quite what the three of them had… and Ai and Maimi of course. As usual, the thought of Maimi brought her even more discomfort, and her eyes drifted to the two younger girls again.
“Hey,” she said to them, and the two looked around as if they didn’t think she was actually talking to them. “Where’s Yuuka? …and… Ayaka…” she added after a quick thought and remembering the girl’s name.
“They went off to dinner already,” Kanon responded, managing as usual to somehow keep more composed than her friends. “They didn’t expect there would be any… excitement out here,” she finished, glancing at the staring crowd around them.
“Osuzu…” Chisato urged. “We should probably get back to the tower… You need to get ready for the Emperor’s delegation. They’ll be here soon.”
Airi kept her eyes on Kanon and Akari, who seemed to become smaller and smaller under her gaze. She and Maimi still hadn’t talked much in the busy time of their school preparation, Airi still unsure of what might be going on between her and Yuuka, though she at least hadn’t seen the younger girl inside the tower. She knew that she’d likely never learn anything without actually talking to Maimi, but it was hard for some reason. Chisato was still having the same problem with Reina too. Her two “sisters” had been pretty much keeping to themselves lately too. Well, aside from Risako staying with Miyabi. None of them seemed to know what to do with their lives here anymore.
“Hello! You’re here already!” came a quiet but somehow commanding voice from beyond the crowd, and it parted to let two girls in, the Star of Seishin glowing into the just dawning eve from the light within it seemingly above their heads.
Ai and Risa were both dressed in shirt, precisely tied ribbon and jacket above knee-length skirts, looking professionally befitting of their stations. Airi heard Chisato groan from beside her. “So much for getting ready…” her friend muttered. Since moving in with her, Chisato seemed to take it as her responsibility to take care of Airi and make sure she presented an image befitting… whatever it was her friend thought of her.
Upon reaching them, Ai glanced at the surrounding girls and cleared her throat. “Don’t you all have some place to be? I know classes are done for the day, but do I need to tell the teachers to assign more homework? If you have the time to just stand around here staring at other students…”
The crowd began dispersing quickly at the words from their headmistress, and Chinami and the others also gave short bows of their head before going off too. Most still stole glances back at the high-profile group as they left, though. Everyone knew who was coming to the school this evening. Airi stared after the two youngest girls she’d just addressed, and apparently frightened half out of their wits.
“That wasn’t necessary…” she said, feeling a pout of her own coming on.
“Sorry,” Ai responded with a smirk. “Making sure students are doing what they should be doing is part of my job. We’re trying to look like we’re making the best effort possible after all, despite how many applications we might have received.”
Airi rose, her friends getting to their feet along with her. “Well thanks, though I’m not sure if I hardly even notice all the stares anymore.”
“Speak for yourself,” Chisato mumbled, clinging closely at her arm.
She started walking toward the path to the tower, but Ai raised a hand in a gesture for her to stop. “The Emperor’s delegation will be here any minute. That’s the other reason I wanted to disperse the crowd. We can’t have them blocking the street, after all.”
“Oh,” Airi said, and she felt Chisato sigh again. “Do you want us to head inside already?”
“That’d probably be best,” Risa responded, gesturing them toward the door beneath the star. “We have a conference room set up if you’d like to get settled there.”
“I’ll meet you back in the tower…” Chisato said at her side, finally releasing her arm. Risako nodded a similar farewell before walking with Chisato toward the path Airi had been headed to. Before they reached it, two other girls appeared from among the trees, and Risako ran up to give one of them a hug and a greeting kiss. Airi decided that they were apparently Miyabi and Reina arriving for the meeting as well. At least she hoped that was who they were, especially with Chisato slowing her steps in contrast to Risako, as if reluctant to reach the two arrivals.
“It’s nice to see them getting along so well, don’t you think, Airin?” Ai said, the two girls stepping up next to her hand-in-hand to watch the others as well. Ai gave her a sideways glance and went on, “I worry about you guys sometimes, that you might be getting too lonely. At least those two have each other. And you have your friends too. It’s Reina that I’m mostly worried about. She seems to be getting more… unstable lately.”
Airi knew what she meant. Since Erina fled the tower the day after they arrived here – to much ensuing gossip from around the school – she’d kept to herself more than the others, and whenever Airi did happen to see her, the girl seemed to be rather moody. She thought it was in good part due to Ai-chan that the clouds that had been almost omnipresent didn’t manage to drop forth much rain. She also didn’t really blame Chisato for not having talked with her yet.
The older girl had also apparently tried getting closer to Miyabi again, although even that was quite hard with Risako at her side nearly all the time.
Eventually, after the one extricated herself from Risako, who subsequently continued on down the path with Chisato, the two new arrivals made their way up to the headmistresses and Airi. “Good evening,” Risa said brightly, and Miyabi returned a smiling nod, though Reina just mumbled something unintelligible. Airi felt a drop of rain on her cheek. Apparently Reina was winning the battle at the moment.
Airi, for her part of the greeting, couldn’t help but stare at the others. Aside from Ai and Risa’s impressive looks, Miyabi had dressed in very nice black seifuku, even though black was not the school color all the other students here wore. Her red ribbon was tied neatly to the side of her neck, and her jacket seemed almost formal, despite how it flapped around since the girl hadn’t apparently bothered to button it. Airi figured Risako must have had some influence on the outfit, because she couldn’t imagine Miyabi would dress up like that otherwise. The chain hanging from the left side of her waist was the only thing aside from the black color that indicated her delinquent past, something she usually still reveled in portraying.
Reina meanwhile wore similar black seifuku, although her shirt was untucked from her skirt above stockings that were uneven just below her knees. Still, it was the nicest Airi had seen her look as well. She then looked down disapprovingly at herself. She was just in the normal seifuku of the other students, which also looked a bit worn from the activities of the day. Well, she didn’t have the time to change it now.
All five girls looked toward the road as they heard a sound as if from a motor, and they saw motorcycles appear from the enclosing woods ahead of what appeared a train of dark vehicles. “Would you three like to head inside?” Ai said, fussing over straightening her own dress again until Risa took her hand and pulled it firmly to her side. “We need to greet them, or we’d head in with you too. You know where the room is, right? It’s second floor just below the Star.”
Reina, without saying anything, just nodded and began strolling over to the building. Miyabi raised an eyebrow at Airi, who stuffed her books in her bag before walking with her in the same direction. “Nice bag,” Miyabi said, and Airi didn’t need to see the girl’s smirk to note the sarcasm in her voice.
“Yes,” Airi responded in her own annoyed voice. “Students who actually go to class are known to carry them.”
Miyabi stretched, giving a look over her shoulder at the oncoming procession. “I don’t know why you bother. I did actually show up the first day, but Yamada-sensei just stared at me the whole time as if I was nuts. Not to mention the other students…”
“Yes, well,” Airi said. “Some of us actually want to learn.”
Miyabi gave her a sidelong glance as they walked, nearing the door Reina had disappeared into. “Do you know how fast our galaxy spins around its center?” she asked suddenly.
“Um…” Airi responded, caught off guard by the girl’s question. Well if that wasn’t random…
“Nearly a million kilometers per hour,” Miyabi continued, and gave her another glance. “That was just updated based on recent data.” Airi blinked as they walked through the tall wooden doors, unsure what to say. “Do you know how many separate terrorist cells are operating within Pakistan’s borders currently?” she asked again.
This time Airi just shook her head very slowly.
“Seventeen,” she answered herself again. “But their leadership is holed up snugly within caves in the areas north of Kashmir.”
Airi stopped at that, though her current emotion was torn between amazement and horror. Seeing her do so, Miyabi stopped beside her, gazing at her with a small smile as if awaiting a response. “How…?” Airi began to ask, but then realized it was a stupid question.
“We’re different, Airi,” Miyabi told her, reaching to clutch at her forearm. “When will you get around to accepting that? We aren’t meant for the same things as everyone else… things like school.”
“B-but…” Airi protested, “You’re the only one that… that knows things like that. The powers we have are completely different. I still need to learn things from school the regular way.” She reached up with her hand to Miyabi’s shoulder. “By the way, I didn’t even imagine you could know things like that before, things about terrorists and such. You should talk to the envoy about it today, and maybe they could do something with the information!”
“I know much more than that,” Miyabi said sagely. “Though I’m not sure how much anyone would be willing to listen to me about it. They’re more interested in listening to you. And to what else you said…”
Suddenly Airi felt the girl’s own free hand on her waist, and air rushed around her as she was spun around. The next thing she knew the breath was knocked out as she was slammed back against the reinforced stone wall. However, she wasn’t even able to catch a breath before she saw a form approach in her suddenly blurry vision and punch her in the stomach, causing her to lose even more breath and almost vomit.
What was going on!? No one had been able to beat her like this since…
Before she could continue that thought though, she was spun around again and thrown back against the opposite wall, where she slid hard to the floor on her rear. She was now dizzy and feeling almost delirious, but again was able to make out the shape of someone coming toward her in a menacingly confident gait.
“N-no…” she managed to breathe out, hardly able to support any voice. She saw an arm draw back as if for another punch, but before it could swing toward her, time became hers.
Everything slowed down to where it was almost frozen before her eyes. The person before her was thrusting her fist forward, but it was as if it was moving through a molasses, and didn’t seem as if it would ever arrive. Instinctively though, in Airi’s currently altered frame of mind, she knew it would, and she knew she had to act to prevent herself getting hurt any more. She still didn’t know why this was happening, but all rational thought had fled at the assault, and all she could do now was react.
As the fist ever so slowly closed the distance to her, she closed her eyes, letting the Sun fill her mind with its brilliance. When she opened them, its luminescence cast everything in stark relief, and the person in front of her was drawn in a smooth, solid outline before her eyes. Then she let loose the power building within her.
Her assailant was thrust backward with immeasurable force, so hard that she crashed completely through the stone and the wood of the wall opposite before coming to rest in a pile of rubble beyond. Time returned to normal, and Airi rose to her feet, the Sun having given her strength. She strode across the hall and stepped through the hole, instinct guiding her feet through the debris, feeling nothing inside but the white hot intensity of the desire to sear her enemy into nothingness once and for all.
However, when she reached the prone figure lying awkwardly in the rubble, she paused and blinked. The face was familiar to her. Then her memory crashed back into her mind.
“Miya!” she cried, and knelt down to grasp the girl’s wrist, fearing the worst. How could she have done such a thing?! However, she couldn’t get a read on a pulse before the wrist slid out of her grip. Surprised, she looked up into the girl’s face, Miyabi’s eyes blinking a big groggily as if waking up from a deep sleep.
“See?” Miyabi asked weakly, lifting herself slowly from the mess. Airi’s eyes widened. She was amazed the girl could even move after what she’d just done, much less look like she was in no pain at all. Miyabi rolled her neck and stretched as if she’d just been a bit stiff. Holding a hand to the back of her neck as she continued stretching it, she cast an eye on Airi. “You can take care of yourself just fine as you are now. There’s no need for something as simple as school.”
“Miya!” Airi cried again, this time in desperate relief, and she leaned forward to hug the girl tightly around the waist.
“Careful…” Miyabi warned. “I don’t think anything’s broken, but do you really want to push it? You could have killed me, you know,” she said in a teasing voice.
“…I’m not even going to ask what happened here,” came a voice from behind Airi, and she turned to see Reina through the hole in the wall. The girl had both eyebrows raised, and looked like she was also tapping her foot slowly, her arms crossed in front of her.
Suddenly Airi realized how tightly she was hugging Miyabi, and she turned her face toward her again only to jerk it suddenly back a bit, as it had been nearly touching the other girl’s own. For her part, Miyabi was giving her a crooked smile, and Airi felt the girl’s arms tighten around her, one even sliding slowly down her back…
“If you don’t quit it, I’m going to tell Rii-chan you two were making out after having thoroughly beaten each other up,” Reina continued. “It’s fun to imagine what she might think of that.”
Suddenly Airi pulled back from Miyabi as if she was hugging a ravenous bear… one whose paw had nearly made it down to a part of her that had only been touched before by… well… the bear in question. She blushed furiously.
“Oh c’mon,” Miyabi said in a disarming voice. “You wouldn’t do that to our poor Airi here. Her friend would never forgive her. As for me, well, I’m sure she’d expect nothing less.” The grin had now spread across nearly her whole face.
“You guys just love torturing me, don’t you?” Airi pouted, having realized the game that was now going on, although still a bit terrified about Risako finding out about the encounter. She looked nervously back at Miyabi. Was she really that desperate? When she’d hugged Miyabi like that… when Miyabi had nearly felt her up like that… she could almost say she was enjoying it.
“It’s our favorite sport,” Miyabi replied chidingly.
“I can say it’s brightened up my day more than anything has for a good while,” Reina said herself, a smile even beginning to creep its way onto her features.
“What on earth have you guys been doing here?!” came another scandalized voice from back down the hall, and Reina turned to look at its source, which was blocked from Airi’s and Miyabi’s sight by the wall in front of them. Suddenly Risa appeared on the other side of the hole, her eyes wide as she took in the whole scene.
Reina, still smiling, backed away out of sight down the hall opposite Risa. Seeing the new arrival, Airi jumped quickly to her feet and nearly ran back through the hole. She moaned when she saw Ai coming toward them, leading a black-suited delegation of somehow anxious-looking men behind her.
“What’s going on, Gaki-san?” Ai asked. “Suzuki-san?” Upon hearing the last name, as well as getting close enough to recognize the face, the men stopped suddenly and fell into deep bows. Airi colored a bit more.
Ai continued walking forward though and peered with Risa through the hole, where Miyabi was just now coming to her feet, brushing dust off her jacket and skirt. “We thought we’d do some redecorating for our guests,” Miyabi said, still grinning, and popped into the hall, her grin widening when she noticed all the men almost frozen stiff still in a bow toward Airi.
Airi, frozen in her embarrassment as well, didn’t even notice at first when Miyabi came to her side and linked an arm with hers. When she finally looked up, Ai and Risa were both giving her very odd looks, but the men at least finally straightened once more.
“I think they’re expecting you to say something,” Miyabi whispered into her ear.
Seeing that apparently everyone was all right, but casting occasional frowns toward the blasted wall, Ai and Risa turned back to their guests as well. “Please, follow us down the hall,” Ai said. “I apologize for the condition of the wall…”
As they all walked toward the conference room, Reina a ways in the lead, Miyabi leaned toward Airi’s ear again. For her part, Airi still felt herself nearly incapable of speech. “I get the feeling this is going to be a most interesting meeting,” Miyabi said. The grin was still there, but this time Airi thought the girl might have actually sounded serious.
-
Aww, Are Airi's past feelings for Miyabi coming back? :wub:
My favorite part in this chapter was the mini-fight between Miyabi and Airi, I thought it was nicely written :)
damn, all of your chapter's ending's have me wanting more to read right away!
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“If you don’t quit it, I’m going to tell Rii-chan you two were making out after having thoroughly beaten each other up,” Reina continued. “It’s fun to imagine what she might think of that.”
Ah, she'd probably think it's a Skulls thing, like Miya said. I'm not so sure if shw wouldn't forgive Airi, though. Maybe not immediately, but she's grown up a bit since it all started, so maybe she would stop minding after a while...
And nice how Miya and Reina dressed up for the meeting, even if they still made sure to show their delinquent status.
I'm curious, though, about Erina. Things seemed fine with Reina, but now she's gone and Reina's moody... Uhm, so strange.
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The chapter is interesting.
The detail is excellent.
although it was short the battle of Airi with Miyabi was interesting to read.
miyabi but takes advantage of Airi too.
Risako is interesting to imagine that is special to choose the dress attire for to Miyabi.
Tanaka she is great.
I enjoy a lot when I read about Tanaka.
AH! I fun.
Tanka is a unique!
Rebel, it is unique! with a strong and interesting character.
I think it is a rather clever for some things.
Airi is the opposite of Miyabi and Tanaka.
Airi, she is a girl good.
but ...
I was more intrigued by the personality of Yajima.
heheheh ... Rokun had not revealed anything about the attitude of this character of Yajima in this new fan fic of The Sword and the Dove. :lol:
Niigaki and Ai-chan, now have a lot of responsibility. :doh:
but ...
hey.
Will there be new characters? :w00t: :lol:
I hope the emergence of new characters. :lol: :)
would be interesting. :D :P
but ...
lately I have been thinking about in Tanaka.
Tanaka is perhaps this attitude because it has a secret. :roll:
maybe someone betrayed to Tanaka.
and they change their ways.
I think Tanaka hide something, and has a story to tell.
well ...
I just imagine that.
but if ...
I love the character of Tanaka.
when is upset or angry.
It is interesting in any state of attitude.
Tanaka has enough personality.
I hope to see an interesting personality in Maimi.
let me know the character and personality of Maimi.
You even have hidden ...
I also like to see to Chisato in this story, she is so reliable and pleasant to read.
maybe Tanaka know, that Chisato is a girl mature, serious and that have good feelings.
Tanaka as that she... want more adventure ...
just fun ...
but maybe you feel alone.
but she not shown this part of she.
or do not know ...
I can only imagine about the characters.
I hope to see more characters enjoy the personalities and attitudes of the characters.
next chapter please.
and thanks for the effort they put in their chapters. Domo Arigatou :)
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ow................Miya so sweet! she does really care about Airi :shifty: .....though she's flirting with her a little! but it's alright as long as it is Airi and not Reina! :hehehe:
well....in Airi's case....not getting a homework! WOwweee.......! :on lol: if i was her, i was like :nya: why not, right? you got all the free time and you dont have to study every now and then for how many hours like i did everytime theres a quiz! But Airi..... :smoke: getting mad for not getting homeworks like the others...... :sweat:...????
well.....i really like the Miya-airi scene! more interactions and sweet moments for miya and airi....... :shy1: :shy1:
What the?! :dunno:........someone hits my head! wah!.........it's Rii-chan! :on freeze:........ alright! Rii-chan and Miya fluffiness please.....
nice author-san....update soon!
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Poor Airi-chan, just wants to be normal. At least Seishin seems to be going well, despite the different treatment of the girls we know. Is everyone that went through the war thingy being treated special or is it just the main girls, like Airi and Miya? Well, TakaGaki seems to be moving on swimmingly~ :heart: Oh man, Airi and Miya were attacking each other?! XD NICE!!!
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Chapter 5 – School Daze
Oh, and JFC, the Kappa Airi I was thinking of was more like this, starting at about 1:30 XD
Kappa, kappa, kappa....XD
Airi stumbled down the hallway with her arms full of the books she didn’t bother putting back into her bag after the last class of the day, which just finished. Chisato and Risako tailed her, trying to keep up, though Risako seemed to be torn between staying with Airi and running off to find Miyabi wherever she might be.
Hmmm...best friend VS GF. Hard choice. :D
Chisato said, now and again bursting into a short jog in order to keep up with her. She looked like she could keep running like that forever.
Well, if she wants to keep up, she just might have to. :lol:
“I mean, despite us living in the tower, we still are hardly able to even get any sleep at night.”
That has so much potential for sound "wrong". :rofl:
Airi pushed her way out the front door of the classroom building and began to head across the fountain plaza, where many students congregated in groups below the Star of Seishin, as the large window in the Headmistresses’ building had come to be known. As usual she drew most eyes, and some of the new girls even gave short bows.
Can't help but wonder about the newly enrolled girls. Did they know about what happened? Did their parents? Was it an issue in whether or not they were allowed to enroll there?
Ai and Risa, despite their optimistic thinking, had been amazed at the quality – and haste – of the applications they received, and now the school was full of many of the brightest – and thus also wealthiest – girls in the country.
Well then...keeping the school running shouldn't be as much of a problem.
:hip blink:
“It’s just not fair…” Airi said, still holding the books tightly to her chest. “Why should you guys get to do all the homework!?”
“Well… um…” Risako said, seeming unsure of how to go on.
“You can always do work on your own,” Chisato suggested. “I know you’ve already been doing that a bit.”
“Yeah,” Airi agreed, “But if I don’t get graded it’s like I did it for nothing. I mean, it’s not like I don’t have other things I could be doing…”
Damn. So that's what it is, isn't it? Airi's still being given "special treatment" even though she's consistently asked to be treated like a regular student. Faculty and other students can't seem to get it in their heads that she doesn't want to be on that pedestal that they've put her on, and that they're actually making her life harder by doing so. :(
Chinami looked self-consciously at those others as she approached, Yurina walking quietly at her side. Chinami seemed bright as always, but Yurina was one of those girls who were taking it really hard with all the exceptional new students, so seemed to be frowning a lot as if she was under some self-imposed stress.
Awwwwwwwww...poor Yurina. :'(
Airi knew the teachers didn’t put ones like her down because of it though – if anything, because of her previous relationship to Airi and her friends, they treated her better than the others, who many thought of as just here for the reputation of attending school at the same place as the “sacred ones”, as the media had seemed to settle on calling them.
Oh for pete's sake. :doh:
“Osuzu…” Chisato urged. “We should probably get back to the tower… You need to get ready for the Emperor’s delegation. They’ll be here soon.”
Yeah, the whole "Emperor" thing isn't really helping matters either.
Upon reaching them, Ai glanced at the surrounding girls and cleared her throat. “Don’t you all have some place to be? I know classes are done for the day, but do I need to tell the teachers to assign more homework? If you have the time to just stand around here staring at other students…”
The crowd began dispersing quickly at the words from their headmistress, and Chinami and the others also gave short bows of their head before going off too.
Authoritative, yet quiet/calm and not overbearing. Nicely done Aichan.
It’s Reina that I’m mostly worried about. She seems to be getting more… unstable lately.”
Airi knew what she meant. Since Erina fled the tower the day after they arrived here – to much ensuing gossip from around the school – she’d kept to herself more than the others, and whenever Airi did happen to see her, the girl seemed to be rather moody.
Manoeri left? :o
From what's been said here, it would almost seem like she hadn't merely been a notch on Reina's belt. Perhaps in Reina's eyes...Manoeri could have been the one? She obviously has had more of an emotional impact on her, otherwise Aichan likely wouldn't have said anything about Reina seeming "moody".
Miyabi had dressed in very nice black seifuku, even though black was not the school color all the other students here wore. Her red ribbon was tied neatly to the side of her neck, and her jacket seemed almost formal, despite how it flapped around since the girl hadn’t apparently bothered to button it. Airi figured Risako must have had some influence on the outfit, because she couldn’t imagine Miyabi would dress up like that otherwise.
Awwwwwwwwww...Miyabi's letting Socko dress her? :grin:
“Nice bag,” Miyabi said, and Airi didn’t need to see the girl’s smirk to note the sarcasm in her voice.
“Yes,” Airi responded in her own annoyed voice. “Students who actually go to class are known to carry them.”
Looks like the preferential treatment agrees with someone. :-\
Granted, Miyabi can probably get away with not attending any actual classes, as she's got the whole mind-reading thing that lets her learn whatever she wants to psychically.
Suddenly Airi felt the girl’s own free hand on her waist, and air rushed around her as she was spun around. The next thing she knew the breath was knocked out as she was slammed back against the reinforced stone wall. However, she wasn’t even able to catch a breath before she saw a form approach in her suddenly blurry vision and punch her in the stomach, causing her to lose even more breath and almost vomit.
WTF?!?!!? What is this, Miyabi's idea of the "tough love" approach???
:OMG:
*AIRI'S FLASH OF POWER*
“See?” Miyabi asked weakly, lifting herself slowly from the mess. Airi’s eyes widened. She was amazed the girl could even move after what she’d just done, much less look like she was in no pain at all. Miyabi rolled her neck and stretched as if she’d just been a bit stiff. Holding a hand to the back of her neck as she continued stretching it, she cast an eye on Airi. “You can take care of yourself just fine as you are now. There’s no need for something as simple as school.”
“Miya!” Airi cried again, this time in desperate relief, and she leaned forward to hug the girl tightly around the waist.
Holy. That's a really DUMB way for Miyabi to make her point. Airi could've completely fried her, for pete's sake.
“If you don’t quit it, I’m going to tell Rii-chan you two were making out after having thoroughly beaten each other up,” Reina continued. “It’s fun to imagine what she might think of that.”
Considering my earlier suspicions about Miyabi's motives, has she even considered Socko's feelings in all of this? If she's with Socko for the wrong reasons... :thumbdown:
Suddenly Risa appeared on the other side of the hole, her eyes wide as she took in the whole scene.
Uh-oh. The Imperial delegation isn't going to be passing by (thus potentially seeing the scene) here, is it? :O
Seeing the new arrival, Airi jumped quickly to her feet and nearly ran back through the hole. She moaned when she saw Ai coming toward them, leading a black-suited delegation of somehow anxious-looking men behind her.
Oh boy. :sweatdrop:
As they all walked toward the conference room, Reina a ways in the lead, Miyabi leaned toward Airi’s ear again. For her part, Airi still felt herself nearly incapable of speech. “I get the feeling this is going to be a most interesting meeting,” Miyabi said. The grin was still there, but this time Airi thought the girl might have actually sounded serious.
Indeed. It's going to be...interesting, to see what the Imperial delegation has to say.
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Yay! Well if it hasn't been a long time... lol. Though I guess not as long as I thought it was... Anyway, thanks everyone for the wonderful comments! After the last chapter I thought everyone might be getting bored. :( Though it seems like activity in this forum has dropped quite a bit in general... =/ I'll do my best to address those I received! :D
mode: Don't get too excited about MiyAiri, but they will have their moments. XD Actually, Miya will have her moments with just about anyone... :lol:
Amarghetta: Risako definitely knows what she's getting with Miya. :lol: That doesn't mean it won't be hard from time to time though... on everyone... but then again, what's truly hard? Relationship troubles are one thing, but.... As for Reina, you won't hear from her (or Chisato) all the time, but they'll pop up here and there. ^^
Maimi_Yajima: I like your comments about Reina and Chisato too. As for everything else, I talk to you plenty elsewhere. :P Hope you enjoy what's to come. But if not, I'm sorry...
ayase: I always enjoy your comments. :lol: They're so cute. Yeah, everyone loves Airi. :lol: Some a bit too much for their own good! As far as the homework, Airi always likes to have that motivation to do good work, and enjoys doing good work too. That's part of what enables her to be who she is in every way. Plus, don't you know those geeky students who just love school and homework? I admit, I'm taking some inspiration for this part of Airi's character from Hermione in the Harry Potter world. XD That was always a big influence on this fic from the beginning really. Airi just wants so hard to please and do good...
As for Rii-chan, kinda like Chisato and Reina, she'll pop up from time to time too. :lol: Except perhaps a bit more... Miya's a rather major character, and Risako's quite important to her, so you can rest assured she'll be around... Except, well, not in this next chapter really. :oops: Then again, this has a rather specific focus...
sbk: Everyone who was in the "war" is being treated differently in some way, yeah. Of course those that are staying in the tower (Airi, Miya, Reina, Maimi, and to a lesser extent Chisato and Risako) are set apart the most, hence why they take refuge in each other so much (such as Airi with Chisato, Miya with Risako. You'll notice Maimi and Reina are excluded from that.. for now... hence their recent moodiness ^^;). But everyone else is being given a bit of a break because of all they've already been through, as well as how they've been so close to the Tower girls. Take Yurina's disgruntlement. She's upset she's falling behind the other more capable students, but she's really only doing it to herself... The teachers and other students would understand. But then, therein also lies the problem.
That has so much potential for sound "wrong". :rofl:
It had the intent of sounding wrong. :lol: However jokingly... :P
Awwwwwwwwww...Miyabi's letting Socko dress her? :grin:
I'm not sure if it's necessarily that Miya's "letting" her do anything. :lol: Risako can be quite strong-willed at times... and if she's insistent, it's not like Miya's gonna forcibly stop her... at least in a way that Risako wouldn't enjoy...... XD
Also, to your comments about Miya's stupidity in what she did with Airi... As things go on you might come to find Miya has a rather warped view of things, perhaps due to her "gift" or even just her odd personality, and so reacts to situations in ways that... well... normal people might not usually consider. XD Airi's the same way in some respects, but she's still getting used to everything as well. Miya's constantly having to deal with her abilities, so develops very quickly...
Also, more comments about Manoeri and Reina... I'll have to make sure and address some more about that in the next chapter. :) The end of the upcoming one actually provides a rather good opportunity for it even....
Anyway, so that's that! Next post, a new chapter. :) Sorry to have kept you waiting! More comments!!!! :grin:
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Chapter 6 – A Flaming Sunset
Airi peered anxiously around at the impressive looking men, some from the Imperial Household Agency, a few powerful members of the former parliament, and even His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino. There was one more man too… Airi gave a wary eye in the direction of Shintaro Ishihara, governor of Tokyo. Idly she wondered how all these people had time to visit their school like this...
“It’s a pleasure to have you all here today!” Ai said with a deep bow. Airi wondered how she could maintain her calmness in front of all these important people. Then she remembered exactly how powerful Ai had been not too long ago. Once again, that made her thoughts wander to Maimi. The encounter with Miyabi this morning convinced her that she finally had to do something, no matter how uncertain she might still be.
Her thoughts still wandered as she looked around at the gathering, and she nearly spoke before realizing it. “Why are there so many of you from the IHA here? I didn’t think you were in the business of governing anymore.” All eyes turned to her, Ai looking a little flushed at being interrupted, and Airi glanced self-consciously to a just visibly grinning Miyabi beside her.
A throat cleared, and she realized it was Governor Ishihara. “We thought you would have known, Suzuki-sama, but things have changed very quickly due to recent events. The Imperial House is now taking a more direct hand in the affairs of state in order to better solidify the nation in front of our changed situation.”
“What has changed?” Airi asked, her thoughts seeming muddy in her head, with only one clear line of focus piercing through them all. “And isn’t that unconstitutional? Won’t it bring fears to the rest of the world that Japan no longer wants peace like we’ve wanted more than anything since the disaster in the war?”
Ishihara glanced to some of the others as if hesitant to respond again. “Events have forced our hand, Suzuki-sama,” he said, in what was beginning to sound an almost patient voice. “Many tenets of the constitution have been suspended in order to deal with the new crisis, including the section barring the Imperial House from executive matters. As for fears from the rest of the world...”
“Thank you, my dear Minister Ishihara,” came a regal voice from the other end of the table, and the governor quieted immediately. Airi and the others turned to see Prince Akishino lean forward, his hands folded calmly before him on the table. An older man, he looked only distinguished for his age, the gray beginning to fill in his hair adding to his regal and almost otherworldly confident bearing.
“I humbly understand how easy it is to treat our gracious hosts as the children they appear.” He spoke in an accent Airi had heard from nowhere else than members of the Imperial family, and at first it was difficult to understand, but for some reason she was quickly becoming used to it as if she’d heard people speaking that way for years. He gave her a warm smile. “But you are no longer simple children, are you?” he asked.
“You’re damn right we’re not,” Reina grumbled.
In a switch of roles, Miyabi responded in a quiet voice, “Shush Reina, or you’ll contradict the compliment the nice Prince is going through the effort to deliver to us.”
For his part, the Prince did not seem to take offense at Reina’s mumbling, and even began to include the other girls in his smile. “From what I have heard, you have recently experienced more than these gentlemen here present with us likely have in their combined lifetimes, including myself.”
“Does he have to talk in that weird accent?” Reina asked, leaning over to Miyabi’s ear. “I’m lucky to pick up every other word he says.”
“Quiet,” Airi scolded lightly, though kept her attention on the Prince. “From whom have you been hearing these things?” she asked. “It must have been quite interesting information to bring all of you here to talk with a few schoolgirls.”
At her words, the eyes of the men across from her all widened, and they glanced among each other as if she’d just said something immensely profound. “She speaks Court Japanese as if she grew up with the Imperial family,” she heard one of the IHA members say to another. Ishihara seemed to want to speak up as well, but the Prince calmly held up a steady hand to stall them. However, now the other girls around her were no longer staring at him.
Despite his outward calm, the Prince’s smile faded, though his gentle eyes were still locked hard on Airi’s. “I had heard from my father, but I must say, meeting you face to face has surpassed my expectations.”
“Surpassed your expectations?” Airi responded. She looked down at her rumpled dress that was now also dusty and maybe even torn in a few spots because of the tousle with Miyabi earlier. “You can’t have been expecting much.”
A grin returned to his face again. “I apologize. That’s not what I meant. Since this is the first official envoy to speak directly with you and the others, we thought it best to be prudent and judge for ourselves whether this shake-up really is worth all the fuss.”
“Shake-up?” Airi asked, shaking her head. “Please don’t go about rewriting the constitution and throwing us back to hell for our sake. I guess I can’t really speak for the others, but I’d be happier to stay nothing more than a normal girl.”
The grin faded from his face again, and Airi nearly sighed. She much preferred this Prince when he was smiling – it made him nearly like a fatherly figure. “I too would like nothing more than to perhaps have you meet my daughters and do as you wish, even if it would be nothing more than playing in the garden, but I assure you, things are not moving as they are for your sake. Actually I should correct that – I believe it is because of you and your friends, but in a way that is out of our control.”
“What are you talking about?” Airi said with a frown.
The Prince sighed heavily. “After the storm, and after the media spread word about what happened and how these events were being brought about by the gods, masses of people around the country felt a rise of national pride, a reaffirmation of beliefs we had nearly dispensed with over half a century ago under the reign of my grandfather. As such things happen with the media of today, this feeling spread like wildfire across the rest of the developed world, and many nations began to suspect and worry once more about a revived nationalistic Japan.”
“Well that’s easy enough to deal with,” Airi reasoned. “Just tell everyone we have no such aims, and that’ll be that.”
The Prince folded his hands again and looked down toward them. “If only it were that simple,” he said. “Some nations… seem to take this a little more personal than anyone would expect. Powerful nations.” His eyes rose back to Airi’s. “We have reports that China has been mobilizing and reinforcing its military, in interest of their defense they say, but it is on a scale that…” His eyes lowered again. “They have closed all diplomatic ties with other nations, including us.”
Airi blinked. “Why would they have reason to do that? I keep up with current events enough to know we’re not the best friends, but doesn’t this seem like just a bit of an overreaction?”
The Prince was silent, and at their broken eye contact, Airi glanced around to the others in the room, who were staring between the two of them as if they had no idea what was going on. “What is it?” Airi asked them, as she noticed the girls to either side of her fix their eyes on her once they saw her looking at them.
In response, Miyabi looked back again toward the Prince. “I hope you told her what’s been going on somewhere in all that,” she said with her trademark grin.
“What are you talking about?” Airi asked, mystified.
“What have you been talking about?” Reina asked her in disgruntlement. “What language were you speaking anyway?”
“I assure you, it was Japanese,” the Prince said finally, though still without raising his eyes.
“Court language,” Ishihara said, staring at Airi as if she was exuding brilliance right before his eyes. “’Tis the language of the gods, and the Emperor, who is inseparable from them.”
“That’s not… precisely correct,” the Prince said, but just then, beeps sounded from all around, and the gathered men quickly checked their phones.
“I apologize, your Highness,” one of the IHA men said as he flipped his open, while others began talking on their own. “We gave them precise orders not to disturb us except in the case of a dire emergency. Takeda! Nakagawa! Turn off your phones at once!” he ordered the men near him.
“Yes sir,” one replied, but another who was still speaking on his spoke up.
“Excuse me, sir,” he said in a quick voice. “There is a situation.”
The politicians, a few of them also on their phones, suddenly began to rise. “What is it?” Ishihara demanded. “What’s going on?”
During the brisk exchange, Airi had met the eyes of the Prince again, who once more raised his own. The two of them stared intensely at each other, Airi feeling an odd bond between herself and the man, almost as if he really were her father, or even more oddly… a son.
The men on their phones looked hesitantly at the still-seated and somewhat mystified girls – all but Miyabi, who only sat quietly, the ever-present grin for some reason no longer present. “Damn you all!” Ishihara roared. “Have you had your ears closed the whole meeting!? These girls supersede any authority present in this room, or even anywhere else on this Earth! Speak!”
“It’s the Western Maritime Self-Defense Force’s long-range radar,” one of the men responded. “They’ve picked up a bogey sailing over the Yellow Sea and rapidly nearing the Republic of Korea. They’ve also reported…” He hesitated, but at the commanding look from Ishihara continued, “The Korean Republic has contacted us and confirmed it came from the nuclear missile site south of Beijing.”
At this the girls all rose quickly too. “What!” Ai burst out. “Are you saying China launched a nuclear missile?”
“Toward us,” the man who explained the situation continued. “Korean projections have it targeting the Imperial Palace.”
At this, the Prince rose. “I apologize having to cut our meeting short. We need to organize an evacuation for my father and the others at the palace… as well as see what we can do for the rest of Tokyo.”
“Don’t we have… countermeasures or something?” Risa asked, seeming puzzled in her anxiety over the whole thing.
“As per the constitution, Japan does not maintain any defensive systems,” Ishihara responded as everyone gathered their materials in preparation for a quick exit. “The United States has such measures under their Pacific Rim defensive umbrella, but those here and in Korea have been damaged by the storm and are still unusable.”
“So we’re sitting ducks,” Reina said, managing again to simplify a complex concept into the most basic words.
“It’s my fault…” Ai said in a hollow voice, dropping back down into her chair. Risa sat down quickly as well, reaching over to comfort her. “I created that storm, which killed so many people already, and now millions of others are going to die…”
“Nobody’s going to die,” Miyabi said in a somehow calm voice, almost as if she was unaware of the near-panic going on around her. A few of the men turned to her in surprise at her words, and when Airi did, she found that Miyabi was staring directly into her own eyes.
“We’ve already begun to organize the evacuation,” one of the men said as he protectively took a hold of the Prince’s arm. “We should leave here as well, since we don’t know how powerful this warhead may be. We may be on high ground, but are still relatively close to the Tokyo area.”
“I will not have Japan yet again be the casualty of atomic warfare,” Ishihara fumed in exasperation. “They will pay for this.” No one spoke up in defense of his words. He looked toward the girls, noting Miyabi’s appearance of unconcern. “The last thing I would do is presume to order you in anything, but I suggest that in the best interest of everyone, you too should try to get out of here. You’re welcome to ride with us, if you so choose.” He ducked his head in a quick bow. “I hope to see you outside.”
As the last of the men left the room, Miyabi spoke up, still staring into Airi’s face. “The missile will be here soon,” she said simply, stretching a bit in her chair.
“And why are you so calm?” Risa said, rising again from her chair to glare angrily at Miyabi. “Don’t you even care about all those people that are going to die!?”
“Nobody’s going to die,” Miyabi said once more, appearing almost bored. The next thing Airi knew, Miyabi’s head jerked to the side as the co-headmistress decked her as hard as she could. However, Miyabi just raised a hand to her cheek, which was blooming only a slight red, while Risa retracted her arm quickly, holding her now raw fist with a painfully muttered, “Itai…”
Ai, having apparently gathered a bit of herself back together, stood quickly behind her partner and hugged her around the waist. “Nii-chan,” she urged, “It’s not worth it, especially after all the work we’ve put into repairing relations among us.”
“So the kitten has claws,” Miyabi commented. “You might wanna keep your pet on a tighter leash there Ai-chan, before she really gets herself in trouble. These aren’t kids’ games we’re playing anymore.”
“I’m not playing kids’ games…” Risa growled, still rubbing her rapidly reddening hand. “At least we’ve actually done something productive around here. What have you done? I’ve heard about you not attending class. Are you just sitting in your grand tower wasting away all day? I don’t know why you even bother being here.”
“Nii-chan…” Ai urged again, but Airi was quickly becoming annoyed herself.
“Why are you so uncaring?” she asked Miyabi, trying to keep her emotions inside her. “Do you enjoy being oblivious of everything around you? And I thought you actually might have cared about me… I guess it’s good I left when I did.”
At Airi’s rebuke, Miyabi stood and lifted a finger to her chin, raising it slowly to meet her eyes. Airi saw only blazing sincerity within them. “You have no idea how I care about you,” the girl said. Airi fought back a blush. “But you do know I am hardly oblivious.”
Suddenly everything clicked into place within Airi’s mind. “You’ve known everything all along…” she said breathlessly, but at that moment, the door slammed open, snapping all eyes toward it.
Thinking it might have been the hot-headed Ishihara returning for one reason or another, perhaps reconsidering taking them with the men by force, Airi was surprised to see Maimi nearly panting as if she’d run the entire way. “What’s going on?” the new arrival asked. “The delegation came storming out of here like the building was on fire, and I felt something else too…” Her eyes swept to Ai for a moment before she noticed a slightly red-cheeked Miyabi’s proximity to Airi and Risa nursing a bruised fist. She immediately fell into a scowl. “What are you doing to her?” she growled, and the room suddenly felt several degrees colder.
“I’m doing nothing I haven’t done before,” Miyabi said calmly, turning around to face her accuser.
“That’s your problem,” Risa growled too. “Doing nothing.”
“Did she hurt you?” Maimi asked the only girl in the room without supernatural powers.
“No, but I wish I could have hurt her a bit more,” Risa said, still glaring defiantly at Miyabi.
“Maybe I can help you there a bit,” Maimi said coldly, and took a step into the room.
Airi, feeling for the first time in a long while the situation deteriorating rapidly, looked to Reina, who was picking at her fingernails as if trying to stay out of the entire encounter. She wondered if she would constantly be finding herself stepping between the two temperamental girls from now on.
However, when she was about to do so, Miyabi spoke up, “You know I’m glad to fight you any time. I could use the exercise – I’d forgotten how refreshing it was until my little encounter with Airi in the hall earlier.” Maimi’s face darkened further. “But isn’t there something a little bigger to worry about? That missile’s gotta be halfway across the Japan Sea by now.”
Maimi stopped her advance. “Missile?” she asked, losing a bit of her fire as she looked around at everyone before her. “What is she talking about?”
“It’s my fault…” Ai said, hugging Risa tightly in front of her and resting a cheek on her shoulder, her eyes with a faraway look as if viewing horrors only she could see.
“There’s a nuclear missile heading for Tokyo,” Airi said softly.
Maimi stared at her. “What?”
Miyabi turned back to Airi. “Well?”
Airi stared back. What was the girl looking at her for? It was as if she was expecting her to do something about it. Airi’s eyes widened once again in understanding. A soft smile curved Miyabi’s lips. After glancing around wildly to the other girls, who stared cluelessly back at her, she ran past Maimi toward the door. “I’m sorry! I have to go!”
Running through the reinforced wooden halls around her, Airi’s mind was a-jumble with outrageous thoughts to the extent she barely even realized where she was going until she burst through the front door to see men crowded around the vehicles outside. Many were still on their phones, and a few, including Ishihara, glanced her way in surprise as she came rushing from the building. Ishihara’s expression though quickly changed to relief, apparently thinking she’d come to escape with them.
“Where?!” she nearly screamed. “Where is it coming from?”
Some of the men blinked, seeming to wonder if she’d gone mad before turning back to their business, but Ishihara stepped toward her. “What are you talking about?”
“The missile!” she said as if it was the most obvious thing, a bit annoyed that others weren’t following her. “Which direction is it coming from? Will it pass near here?”
Ishihara blinked, then fell into thought a moment. He pointed to the left of the head building and the mountain behind it. “Well, it’ll come from the west, and I suppose it would pass near here. We’re east and just a bit north of Tokyo, and it’s likely to curve in a bit from a northerly direction.”
Their exchange was now garnering some attention from the other men, as well as students who had begun to gather in small groups to converse in hushed voices at a safe distance. Airi swiftly spun to the direction the man indicated, just catching sight of the other school leaders running out into the fading day themselves, all having apparently forgotten their grievances with each other in concern for whatever had suddenly possessed Airi. She looked straight into the Sun, which was perhaps a half hour from disappearing behind the mountains, and while as always instead of blinding her as it would a normal person it only gave her a sense of comforting warmth, it still distorted her vision of anything in that direction.
She closed her eyes. She heard Maimi shout a question at her about what she was doing. When she opened them, she glanced over to see the Prince slowly exiting a vehicle that was guarded by several of the strong-looking men in suits. Then she glanced back toward the Sun. With slight hesitation at the loss she knew she would feel, she raised her hand.
Almost immediately, a sliver of darkness appeared at the top-right corner of the glowing yellow brilliance. As more and more of the light came to be blocked, she heard amazed murmurs from all around her, both students and men.
“I didn’t know there was going to be an eclipse today…” Maimi said.
“There wasn’t,” Miyabi responded.
“I didn’t think so,” Maimi continued in a quiet voice. Airi almost smiled to hear no bitterness toward the girl any longer in her voice.
After just a few minutes, the Sun was completely blocked, and the late afternoon felt like sudden twilight around them. Airi closed her eyes again, and then opened them, opening herself as she stared off to see things before the shaded brilliance only she could. At first she didn’t notice anything, but soon, in her mind’s eye, she saw a pinprick of light that was moving quickly far above straight toward them. Closing her eyes, she let herself go into a world of awareness all her own, concentrating as hard as she could only on tracking that point of light. It came nearer and nearer, and she knew it was time.
She opened her eyes. She no longer needed to raise her hand as she’d done many times before when calling forth her power. This time, even despite the impossibly long distance, it was only her focus she needed. She felt almost as if she was lost in time, as if the only things in the universe that mattered were her and that steadily intensifying point of light. She released her power toward it, the power granted her by the hidden Sun, and yet within herself at the same time, and with a jolt, she knew she’d hit her mark.
Falling to her knees as if at some invisible backlash, she raised her eyes again to see just to the side of the blocked Sun a point of light flicker into being within sight of all. Suddenly, the light expanded in a rapidly widening circle, and when others began to catch sight of it, there were “oohs” and “aahs” all around her. Airi smiled. Miyabi was right. No one would be dying today.
She heard footsteps from just beside her, but couldn’t take her eyes away from the display of man’s destructive potential. Someone knelt next to her, and she felt an arm around her shoulders. “Are you ok?” It was Maimi’s voice.
Finally she turned to see the girl giving her a look of concern, her eyes flickering occasionally toward the billowing cloud of light in the distance, even though it was beginning to be overwhelmed by the returning Sunlight. Looking past the girl’s shoulder momentarily, she saw Risa and Ai with their arms around each others’ waists, staring with mixed, but generally relieved, emotions to the west. Reina was just to their side, also watching the display, but Miyabi was looking toward her. Airi thought she caught a flicker of a smile on the girl’s face before she too turned to the sight that Airi knew she’d seen before, if only through a vision in her own head.
She focused once again, and completely, back on Maimi. “Yes, I’m all right,” she responded, and couldn’t help a smile broaden on her face. “You came to me.”
“Of course,” Maimi said, appearing a bit embarrassed, and she brushed at Airi’s now filthy skirt. “You know I’ll always be there for you.”
“I thought…” Airi said, hesitating. “I mean, I know you’d been seeing Yuukarin…”
“What?” Maimi asked, frowning. “You were worried about that? I have to admit, the girl’s insistent, but I couldn’t… I can’t be with anyone else…”
“Maimi!” Airi suddenly burst out in childlike excitement, and leaned forward to hug the girl. Maimi seemed surprised at first, but quickly hugged her back just as tightly.
After a time, Maimi still glancing with some disbelief at Airi, the two girls pulled slightly apart, though still with arms loosely around each other, and looked toward the horizon. The eclipse was almost finished, but since the Sun had started to disappear behind the mountains, the billowing orange cloud in the sky was still visible.
Airi heard some movement to the side, and she glanced over without thinking before her gaze froze. Many of the men had fallen to the ground to their knees in prayer toward the west. Ishihara was bowed toward her. The Prince still stood, studying her carefully.
“Not mere children, indeed…” he pronounced, in what wasn’t all a kindly voice.
…
“Well if your intent was to get people to treat you more normally, I’d say you certainly failed,” Maimi said with a grin as she and Airi sat close together on a couch in Maimi’s converted bedroom.
After seeing the Prince and his retinue off, they’d returned to explain the happenings to Chisato and Risako, who somehow missed nearly the whole thing only wondering why it got dark so early. Airi hadn’t left Maimi’s side though, and deciding to let Chisato have their room for the moment, Maimi had invited her to her own.
“For some reason that doesn’t seem important anymore…” Airi said, picking at something toward the bottom of Maimi’s shirt. She looked up at the older girl and couldn’t help smiling again. “You don’t know how happy I am to be with you again.”
“Well…” Maimi said, still seeming to be holding back a little. “I am a bit surprised at you too.”
“Why’s that?” Airi asked, looking up into Maimi’s face in worry.
Maimi avoided her eyes. “Well, you’ve seemed busy lately, and happy to have your friend with you.” When Airi didn’t say anything, she continued, “I mean, you two have known each other for a long time. I wouldn’t blame you if you—”
“If I what?” Airi said, pulling back slightly. “Do you think…? Chisato and I…? No, you silly! We’re friends! She needed a place to go, and, well, I could use the company…”
“Oh…” Maimi said, sounding a bit ashamed, but at the same time quite relieved.
Airi laid a finger to her cheek and turned her face toward hers. “You’ve been the only one I wanted. The whole time.”
Maimi looked away again. “And then there’s Natsuyaki. That girl constantly gets on my nerves, but…”
This time Airi gripped the girl’s chin tightly to make sure she couldn’t look away. “Maimi, listen to me. I’ve told you before that Miya and I are close – goodness knows our relationship is stupidly complicated sometimes – but you’re the one I want to be with.” She wanted to be sure she kept Maimi’s full attention before going on. “Just like Chisa, the two of us will always be close, not the least for our work… but you’re the one I want to come home to at night.”
“But can you understand my position?” Maimi asked. “She’s your ex, as well as your first… well… It’s just a little weird for me, that’s all.”
Airi pulled away, but this time Maimi didn’t look down. “Maimi, I think you’ve noticed again today that my life… Well, it’s going to be very complicated. It’s not going to be easy to be with me. It won’t be easy for me.” She quieted her voice a little herself. “I can’t ask you to commit to me through all that. If you don’t want to deal with it…”
This time Maimi brought a hand to her shoulder, which Airi glanced down at. It felt like tingles emanated just from the girl’s touch. “I will,” Maimi said firmly. “I won’t deny it’ll be… hard… sometimes, but I’ve waited for you this long… been through so much to have you… I’m not letting you go.”
Airi smiled. “That’s how I hoped you’d feel,” she said in a shy voice.
Maimi’s hand traced down her side to poke her lightly in the stomach. “If we’re together, I’ll have none of that shyness from you though,” she said in a chiding voice. “I know you better than that!”
Airi giggled. “Well I can’t help it when I’m this close to someone so beautiful.”
Maimi didn’t respond, but continued smiling. Airi’s own smile faltered slightly, wondering if she’d gone too far. She really wasn’t used to flirting. It was usually done to her, and not from her. Thinking about it, didn’t that make her quite vain? And yet she still had someone like Maimi…
“Now that kind of thing I can get used to hearing,” Maimi finally said with a grin, and Airi relaxed with relief. However, it was short-lived before she let out a small squeal as Maimi leaned quickly forward, pushing her back against the couch, and began kissing along the left side of her neck.
“Maimi…” Airi breathed, feeling herself flush but wonderful under the tingling sensations of the older girl’s kisses.
Maimi pulled away, looking into her face. “Say it again,” she commanded in a heavy whisper, reminiscent of the days when the girl had the most powerful in Japan doing her bidding.
“What?” Airi asked, feeling intoxicated in her arms.
“That you think I’m beautiful…” Maimi answered.
Airi smiled, and reached up to stroke down Maimi’s long dark hair. “You are. You’re too beautiful to be mine.”
“It’s not nice to lie…” Maimi whispered close to her face in response. Airi was going to protest, but the words were lost into Maimi’s mouth as the girl’s lips quickly found hers, her tongue taking advantage of the opportunity to immediately deepen the kiss.
As the kiss continued rising in fervor, Airi’s thoughts randomly wandered to what she’d just done a bit earlier, and she wondered at what could have caused China to attack them in the first place, never mind what the consequences would be. However, Maimi quickly made her forget all about that, as she created millions of tiny explosions of her own, this time all within Airi herself.
…
That night, House Nakazawa was alive late into the evening with talk and gossip about what had happened earlier in the day. Many students said that this was exactly why they had come here – to see miracles take place. Others preached that if everyone trusted in their leaders, there was nothing they’d ever have to fear again. Yet others, after hearing the official news reports, spoke in hushed whispers with the fear that a debilitating war was going to break out across the world.
While most inhabitants sought refuge in common areas, two exchange students sat in their room across from each other on the same bed, having worked long into the night on continuing carefully laid plans.
“She rose to the challenge. There can be no doubt now,” Li Chun concluded in her native language.
“I still say it was too risky a move…” Qian Lin said reservedly. “What if she hadn’t? Things would have been much worse than they already are.”
“It was as the Magister thought,” Chun replied. “There would have been no other way. The other Ancient ensured she would respond.”
“I’m afraid she sees more than our most gifted Seers,” Lin sighed.
“If she didn’t, we wouldn’t have the need to continue our response. There would be no need for our existence.”
“Do you think we can really succeed? You and I have been trained so long, and through so much, but what these girls embody is unprecedented.”
“We must succeed. The fate of our homeland – the fate of the world – lies on our shoulders.”
Lin sighed again. “But there have been no orders yet, have there?”
“No,” Chun responded, looking at the same time worried and relieved. “For now, we continue learning math and this warped view of history.”
Lin grimaced at the mound of schoolwork sitting next to her. “Now that’s something I could easily do without.”
“We only move when the time is right…” Chun said, staring into the flame of one of the many candles set around the room, giving even this place a portion of the ritualistic setting they had been used to throughout all their training. “This was only the first shot in what will be a long struggle.”
“I just hope we haven’t suddenly jumped from the frying pan to the fryer.”
After a short nod from Chun in response, both girls closed their eyes and fell into meditation. After repeating their mantras for just a short time, the flames from the candles rose up into the thin air above the wicks and began a slow dance in a circle around the two girls who controlled them, helping them focus in an exercise that had long since been second-nature to them.
-
Chapter 6 – A Flaming Sunset
Airi peered anxiously around at the impressive looking men, some from the Imperial Household Agency, a few powerful members of the former parliament, and even His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino. There was one more man too… Airi gave a wary eye in the direction of Shintaro Ishihara, governor of Tokyo. Idly she wondered how all these people had time to visit their school like this...
If it was an Imperial directive to do so, then they would have found a way to make the time. Plus, considering how they've been regarded so far by those who know of their abilities, they're likely not wanting to risk any of the girls getting pissed off at them for not showing up.
Still not entirely sure what the purpose is for their gathering at the school.
The Imperial House is now taking a more direct hand in the affairs of state in order to better solidify the nation in front of our changed situation.
“What has changed?” Airi asked, her thoughts seeming muddy in her head, with only one clear line of focus piercing through them all. “And isn’t that unconstitutional? Won’t it bring fears to the rest of the world that Japan no longer wants peace like we’ve wanted more than anything since the disaster in the war?”
Uh-oh, I'm not sure I like where I think this is going. Taking a more "direct hand" could very well mean that they wish to return Japan completely to Imperial rule and dissolve the Republic-style government that they currently have. To do so, they might be planning on using the girls in some ways to promote that end (such as by saying their presence is a holy sign to return to Imperial rule). Worst case scenario would be if they intend to use the girls as some type of "enforcers" or "deterrent" to those who would oppose such a move. :O
Airi and the others turned to see Prince Akishino lean forward
...
He spoke in an accent Airi had heard from nowhere else than members of the Imperial family, and at first it was difficult to understand, but for some reason she was quickly becoming used to it as if she’d heard people speaking that way for years.
Now for some reason, this little tidbit about Airi's becoming really comfortable with the Prince's accent is a little disconcerting...to say the least. If it was just that it was becoming easier to understand it'd probably be fine, but the fact that it's an accent used almost exclusively by the Imperial family, yet she's acting like it's something that she's heard for years...it's just off-putting for some reason. :sweatdrop:
“But you are no longer simple children, are you?” he asked.
“You’re damn right we’re not,” Reina grumbled.
In a switch of roles, Miyabi responded in a quiet voice, “Shush Reina, or you’ll contradict the compliment the nice Prince is going through the effort to deliver to us.”
For his part, the Prince did not seem to take offense at Reina’s mumbling, and even began to include the other girls in his smile. “From what I have heard, you have recently experienced more than these gentlemen here present with us likely have in their combined lifetimes, including myself.”
And now, why do I get the sense that he's intentionally trying to butter them up?
:dunno:
“Quiet,” Airi scolded lightly, though kept her attention on the Prince. “From whom have you been hearing these things?” she asked. “It must have been quite interesting information to bring all of you here to talk with a few schoolgirls.”
At her words, the eyes of the men across from her all widened, and they glanced among each other as if she’d just said something immensely profound. “She speaks Court Japanese as if she grew up with the Imperial family,” she heard one of the IHA members say to another.
Whoa boy...now Airi HERSELF is speaking with the same accent as the Prince? :shocked
Since this is the first official envoy to speak directly with you and the others, we thought it best to be prudent and judge for ourselves whether this shake-up really is worth all the fuss.”
“Shake-up?” Airi asked, shaking her head. “Please don’t go about rewriting the constitution and throwing us back to hell for our sake. I guess I can’t really speak for the others, but I’d be happier to stay nothing more than a normal girl.”
Damn, they really ARE talking about returning Japan to Imperial rule, aren't they? The Imperial family (or at least, certain, obviously powerful members of the Imperial family) want to be more than just a figurehead. They want to be "in charge" again.
The Prince sighed heavily. “After the storm, and after the media spread word about what happened and how these events were being brought about by the gods, masses of people around the country felt a rise of national pride, a reaffirmation of beliefs we had nearly dispensed with over half a century ago under the reign of my grandfather. As such things happen with the media of today, this feeling spread like wildfire across the rest of the developed world, and many nations began to suspect and worry once more about a revived nationalistic Japan.”
“Well that’s easy enough to deal with,” Airi reasoned. “Just tell everyone we have no such aims, and that’ll be that.”
The Prince folded his hands again and looked down toward them. “If only it were that simple,” he said. “Some nations… seem to take this a little more personal than anyone would expect. Powerful nations.” His eyes rose back to Airi’s. “We have reports that China has been mobilizing and reinforcing its military, in interest of their defense they say, but it is on a scale that…” His eyes lowered again. “They have closed all diplomatic ties with other nations, including us.”
If he's telling the truth, then they indeed have some pretty big problems to face.
Just goes to show that "freedom of the press" isn't always a good thing, particularly when it's not used responsibly and leads to little things, like, oh I dunno...global panic. :smh
The Prince was silent, and at their broken eye contact, Airi glanced around to the others in the room, who were staring between the two of them as if they had no idea what was going on. “What is it?” Airi asked them, as she noticed the girls to either side of her fix their eyes on her once they saw her looking at them.
In response, Miyabi looked back again toward the Prince. “I hope you told her what’s been going on somewhere in all that,” she said with her trademark grin.
“What are you talking about?” Airi asked, mystified.
“What have you been talking about?” Reina asked her in disgruntlement. “What language were you speaking anyway?”
“I assure you, it was Japanese,” the Prince said finally, though still without raising his eyes.
“Court language,” Ishihara said, staring at Airi as if she was exuding brilliance right before his eyes. “’Tis the language of the gods, and the Emperor, who is inseparable from them.”
Sunnovabitch, is Airi's ability to speak and understand "Court language" all Miyabi's doing? She using her psychic abilities to make it so only Airi (and possibly, herself) can fully understand the Prince?
Airi had met the eyes of the Prince again, who once more raised his own. The two of them stared intensely at each other, Airi feeling an odd bond between herself and the man, almost as if he really were her father, or even more oddly… a son.
A son? Is the current Imperial family descendants of (or otherwise/in some manner linked to) the Original Circle, and thus, in some way, to the spirit that gave Airi her powers??? :shocked:
The men on their phones looked hesitantly at the still-seated and somewhat mystified girls – all but Miyabi, who only sat quietly, the ever-present grin for some reason no longer present.
A non-smiling Miyabi? Not good, considering that her psychic abilities probably means that she already knows what the problem is.
“The Korean Republic has contacted us and confirmed it came from the nuclear missile site south of Beijing.”
At this the girls all rose quickly too. “What!” Ai burst out. “Are you saying China launched a nuclear missile?”
“Toward us,” the man who explained the situation continued. “Korean projections have it targeting the Imperial Palace.”
It looks like the story that the Prince had told them about growing tensions with China were true. If Beijing has indeed, for some reason decided to launch a nuclear attack because of the news of the girls and their powers, then they need to act and act FAST!
...
Then again, the conspiracy theorist in me says that this could all be a test by someone in the Imperial family looking to take advantage of the girls and their powers. For all we know, someone could be conspiring with Beijing to do this (or at least somehow making it look like Beijing is doing it) to get the girls to use their powers to destroy the missile, which they would then "advertise" as another "divine" act, which they would obviously then somehow link to the movement to put the Imperial family back in power.
:mon nyah:
“It’s my fault…” Ai said in a hollow voice, dropping back down into her chair. Risa sat down quickly as well, reaching over to comfort her. “I created that storm, which killed so many people already, and now millions of others are going to die…”
“Nobody’s going to die,” Miyabi said in a somehow calm voice, almost as if she was unaware of the near-panic going on around her. A few of the men turned to her in surprise at her words, and when Airi did, she found that Miyabi was staring directly into her own eyes.
And of course, the conspiracy theorist in me continues to suspect that Miyabi's somehow involved in this more than we know. Seems pretty obvious that her "staring" at Airi is a "signal" that she wants Airi to "do the right thing" and "save the city" by using her powers to destroy the missile.
:mon suspect:
Airi was surprised to see Maimi nearly panting as if she’d run the entire way. “What’s going on?” the new arrival asked. “The delegation came storming out of here like the building was on fire, and I felt something else too…” Her eyes swept to Ai for a moment before she noticed a slightly red-cheeked Miyabi’s proximity to Airi and Risa nursing a bruised fist. She immediately fell into a scowl. “What are you doing to her?” she growled, and the room suddenly felt several degrees colder.
This could very well be the dictionary definition for "bad timing".
:badluck:
Miyabi turned back to Airi. “Well?”
Airi stared back. What was the girl looking at her for? It was as if she was expecting her to do something about it. Airi’s eyes widened once again in understanding. A soft smile curved Miyabi’s lips. After glancing around wildly to the other girls, who stared cluelessly back at her, she ran past Maimi toward the door. “I’m sorry! I have to go!”
At the risk of sounding like a jerk, it sure took Airi long enough to figure it out. Granted she's been trying to avoid using her powers as much as possible since coming back to school, but seriously, under the circumstances it should have been pretty obvious to her that SHE was perhaps the only one in the world, if not in Japan, who actually stood a chance of stopping it.
Running through the reinforced wooden halls around her, Airi’s mind was a-jumble with outrageous thoughts to the extent she barely even realized where she was going until she burst through the front door to see men crowded around the vehicles outside. Many were still on their phones, and a few, including Ishihara, glanced her way in surprise as she came rushing from the building.
Oh great, not only does she get to blow up the missile and save Japan, but she gets to do it with an AUDIENCE. :-X
Ishihara’s expression though quickly changed to relief, apparently thinking she’d come to escape with them.
Are we sure that this is what he's thinking?
:pig realmad:
Almost immediately, a sliver of darkness appeared at the top-right corner of the glowing yellow brilliance. As more and more of the light came to be blocked, she heard amazed murmurs from all around her, both students and men.
“I didn’t know there was going to be an eclipse today…” Maimi said.
“There wasn’t,” Miyabi responded.
“I didn’t think so,” Maimi continued in a quiet voice.
Looks like the others have figured it out too.
She released her power toward it, the power granted her by the hidden Sun, and yet within herself at the same time, and with a jolt, she knew she’d hit her mark.
Falling to her knees as if at some invisible backlash, she raised her eyes again to see just to the side of the blocked Sun a point of light flicker into being within sight of all. Suddenly, the light expanded in a rapidly widening circle, and when others began to catch sight of it, there were “oohs” and “aahs” all around her. Airi smiled. Miyabi was right. No one would be dying today.
On the one hand...fook yeah. :cow:
On the other hand...watch out for vultures.
She heard footsteps from just beside her, but couldn’t take her eyes away from the display of man’s destructive potential. Someone knelt next to her, and she felt an arm around her shoulders. “Are you ok?” It was Maimi’s voice.
...
She focused once again, and completely, back on Maimi. “Yes, I’m all right,” she responded, and couldn’t help a smile broaden on her face. “You came to me.”
“Of course,” Maimi said, appearing a bit embarrassed, and she brushed at Airi’s now filthy skirt. “You know I’ll always be there for you.”
“I thought…” Airi said, hesitating. “I mean, I know you’d been seeing Yuukarin…”
“What?” Maimi asked, frowning. “You were worried about that? I have to admit, the girl’s insistent, but I couldn’t… I can’t be with anyone else…”
“Maimi!” Airi suddenly burst out in childlike excitement, and leaned forward to hug the girl. Maimi seemed surprised at first, but quickly hugged her back just as tightly.
So Maimi didn't leave Airi for Yuuka? It's still MaimiAiri raburabu? WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
:gmon love2:
Airi heard some movement to the side, and she glanced over without thinking before her gaze froze. Many of the men had fallen to the ground to their knees in prayer toward the west. Ishihara was bowed toward her. The Prince still stood, studying her carefully.
“Not mere children, indeed…” he pronounced, in what wasn’t all a kindly voice.
Aw crap...she did what needed to be done, but now Airi's got to deal with the one thing she absolutley does NOT want.....hero worship. :banghead:
“Well if your intent was to get people to treat you more normally, I’d say you certainly failed,” Maimi said with a grin as she and Airi sat close together on a couch in Maimi’s converted bedroom.
That's putting it mildly. :(
“For some reason that doesn’t seem important anymore…” Airi said, picking at something toward the bottom of Maimi’s shirt. She looked up at the older girl and couldn’t help smiling again. “You don’t know how happy I am to be with you again.”
Where the hell had Maimi been anyway? She couldn't have been purposely avoiding her THAT much, now, right? :?
Maimi avoided her eyes. “Well, you’ve seemed busy lately, and happy to have your friend with you.” When Airi didn’t say anything, she continued, “I mean, you two have known each other for a long time. I wouldn’t blame you if you—”
“If I what?” Airi said, pulling back slightly. “Do you think…? Chisato and I…? No, you silly! We’re friends! She needed a place to go, and, well, I could use the company…”
“Oh…” Maimi said, sounding a bit ashamed, but at the same time quite relieved.
Huh? She thought that......really?
Well, I guess that explains why she hadn't been around lately.
*MAIMIAIRI "COMMITMENT" TALK & RABURABU*
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...
:mon lovelaff:
Oh, not to mention this at the end... :on bleed:
While most inhabitants sought refuge in common areas, two exchange students sat in their room across from each other on the same bed, having worked long into the night on continuing carefully laid plans.
“She rose to the challenge. There can be no doubt now,” Li Chun concluded in her native language.
“I still say it was too risky a move…” Qian Lin said reservedly. “What if she hadn’t? Things would have been much worse than they already are.”
Shit, JunLin and their supriors were the ones who engineered this whole incident??? I'm with Linlin on this one, it was an AWFULLY risky move to take, and if Airi hadn't been able to stop it they could have REALLY messed things up.
The other Ancient ensured she would respond.”
“I’m afraid she sees more than our most gifted Seers,” Lin sighed.
The "other Ancient" they're referring to...with her suspicious behaviour of late, it could very well be Miyabi, right? This means that the reason she knew about the missile attack was NOT because of her powers, but because she was in on the plan to launch them in the first place. Only other possibly explanation would be that China had it's own version "Circle" at some point in it's history with girls that had powers like what happened with the girls here.
:mon scare:
“We only move when the time is right…” Chun said, staring into the flame of one of the many candles set around the room, giving even this place a portion of the ritualistic setting they had been used to throughout all their training. “This was only the first shot in what will be a long struggle.”
“I just hope we haven’t suddenly jumped from the frying pan to the fryer.”
After a short nod from Chun in response, both girls closed their eyes and fell into meditation. After repeating their mantras for just a short time, the flames from the candles rose up into the thin air above the wicks and began a slow dance in a circle around the two girls who controlled them, helping them focus in an exercise that had long since been second-nature to them.
*GASP*
JUNLIN HAS POWERS!!!!! IT'S GONG TO BE JUNLIN VS THE CIRCLE&SKULLS!!!
:mon wtf:
-
Wow, this was rather exciting. XD Airi really is a god, being able to speak Imperial Japanese when the rest of the girls can barely understand it. I think it's kinda funny that she thinks of the emperor as a son. Whoa, China sent a nuclear bomb?!?!?!?! :shocked: Holy shit, Gaki hit Miya?!?!?! :w00t: I mean, I like Miya but how much sexier can Gaki get?! :inlove: Why does Ai keep blaming herself? I don't see why she's at fault for this? Airi kinda scares me sometimes. Like I can't believe all this shit is possible. Meh, Airi/Maimi isn't really my cup of tea. They're cute but for some reason, I like Airi with Miya better. :P OMFG, Jun and Lin are like spies/agents with powers?!?!?!? :shocked:
-
Why does Ai keep blaming herself? I don't see why she's at fault for this?
Well, in the original story it's shown that Aichan DID create a storm that was probably as powerful and destructive as several hurricanes put together. And as she said in this last chapter, that storm also hurt and/or killed a pretty significant number of people. The news reports afterwards didn't take long in reporting that it was a select group of girls in Japan that created it. Given the current delicate nature of political relations, Aichan knows the threat of something like this could easily set off other governments.
-
^
Oh yeah....totally forgot about that. :oops:
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So, China is reinforcing their miltary and sending over missiles because they are concerned about a Nationalistic Japan? Haha, they better! :wahaha:
I suspected Jun and Lin would have something to do with that. And yet, I thought they were good guys :cry: Maimi and Airi are so cute :wub: I'm glad they finally relieved eachother's worries.
Don't leave us hanging, update soon!! :P
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Well, I've not received many comments yet, but I've been sitting on this chapter for a bit and don't want to wait any longer to post it. XD I'll love you if you're keeping up with the story but hadn't been able to comment yet on chapter 6, if you do so for 7. :) I'll catch up with the chapter 6 comments next time too :) but thank you JFC for clarifying that point for sbk! :D
For this chapter and the next couple at least, the story's gonna be a little different, from a perspective we haven't seen yet (in the sequel at least). I'm hoping this may pique the interest of a few more people as well who aren't as into the characters I've focused on so far. :) Enjoy this chapter... I sure did...
Chapter 7 – When Tempests Clash
“Ai-chan,” Risa said from her desk as she perused the paper she held just above it. “The Imperial Government has requested another meeting, to keep us ‘informed’ of events and to seek… our counsel.”
“Our counsel?” Ai asked, leaning over her own desk and rubbing her forehead deeply. It had been a long day, and her head was beginning to hurt. She had a feeling it was coming to be that time of month again too. “Don’t we have enough work around here? We have to tell people how to run the country too?”
Despite her outward disgruntlement, there was a sort of emptiness to her words as well. She remembered when she quite willingly was running the country, and even though they were putting so much effort into the school now, sometimes she missed the weight of responsibility. She thought that was part of the reason she worked so hard for this job to begin with.
“Well actually…” Risa said, frowning down at the paper and peering out of the corner of her eye to Ai. “It doesn’t mention us in the request. Most specifically, they wish to speak with ‘Suzuki Airi-sama’.”
Ai sighed. “That girl definitely seems to do her best in the flamboyancy department. One glance at her and what she does and no one else seems to exist. I know Natsuyaki for one seems to prefer it that way, even though I’m unsure which of them is actually the most dangerous. As for Tanaka…” Memories of her own violent encounters with the former leader of the Skulls flitted through her mind’s eye. “From what I hear, she’s not suitable for much anything these days. Stays in the tower nearly all the time. I know her better than that though… It only makes me wonder what she’s up to.”
She shook her head slowly, trying not to aggravate the ache any more. “No, I think the Emperor is making a big mistake if he comes purely to Airi for favors. Still…” she added, tapping a report on her own desk with a fingertip, “It wouldn’t hurt the two of them to actually come to class once in awhile. Maybe Tanaka could use some socializing.”
“Do you really think going to class would be what’s best for them?” Risa asked, now looking over at her. “I know they are students here, but… The others definitely don’t seem to complain that they aren’t doing the same work as them, and I think if they did see them in class, it’d only be more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Knowledge never hurt anyone, Nii-chan,” Ai said in response.
Risa was quiet a moment. “For Natsuyaki-san at least,” she said finally in a similarly quiet voice, “I don’t think knowledge is the problem. As for Tanaka…” She sighed herself. “Do we really want to release her on all of the best and brightest and most beautiful girls in Japan who’ve come here?” Her expression darkened as those memories of the hated Skulls apparently arose once again. “I’d imagine before long our counselor wouldn’t be able to handle all the cases of grief that’d surely come to her. She has her hands full enough just with the Mano girl at the moment.”
“How is she doing, by the way?” Ai asked idly, relaxing back into her chair. Maybe she’d call it in early today. No… she just had too much work to do…
“Well enough, considering,” Risa replied, picking at another paper on her desk. “I think she was just too innocent to know what she was getting into with Tanaka, so she fell head over heels too quickly and is now paying the price. Of course that’s not the all of it. Their talks have grown to what it’s like being shot with an arrow and nearly dying, onto being involved in a war where no few of her friends were killed. Yamada-sensei is good, but unfortunately there have been too many things out of even her own considerable experience happening to girls around here.”
“Don’t we know the truth of that,” Ai said, resigned. She turned to Risa with a warm smile. “Hey, why don’t you take off early? Go get yourself a nice relaxing bath and head back to our rooms. I think you’ve done enough good work today.”
Risa gave her a sly smirk in return. “It’d sound a lot more relaxing if you’d join me in that bath. It’s been forever since either of us has had time for anything relaxing like that, since a good while before the last visit from the Emperor I think.”
Ai’s smile broadened. “You don’t know how good that sounds, Nii-chan, but I still have some things to finish up here. You go. I’ll catch up with you later, and maybe we can watch a movie from bed or something.”
Reluctantly, Risa organized a few papers and rose from her desk. When she looked over, Ai was once again engrossed in some of her own. “All right, Ai-chan,” she submitted. “But you’d better promise me if we do that, it’ll be some kind of romantic movie that neither of us will remember very much of by the time the credits roll.”
Ai smiled, just glancing up toward the other girl. “That, I might be able to live with,” she agreed, and with a bit more of a bounce to her step, Risa came over to give her a hug around the neck and kiss on the cheek and started to head out the door.
As she began to close it behind her, she turned back seductively. “Don’t keep me waiting too long, Mr. Moonlight…” she teased, calling Ai by a nickname she’d given her after one of their favorite songs. “The moon’s going to be full tonight I hear, by the way…” she trailed off mysteriously, pulling the door lightly shut behind her.
Ai shook her head, unable to keep the smile from her face as she thought of the girl she’d just ordered to her bath. However, the smile quickly was long lost as she became engrossed in the paperwork that constantly piled up all too quickly. She was glad she had Risa to help her with running the school – she didn’t think she would be able to manage even that paperwork by herself, let alone all her other duties. She couldn’t imagine how Tsunku had been able to keep things running on his own.
A crack of thunder made her look up to the window, and she saw by the blowing trees outside that a storm was brewing. Idly she wondered if Reina had anything to do with it, and thought momentarily about attempting to remedy it herself, but decided it would fit the oncoming night well. Plus, it’d make it all the more cozy later on when she made it to bed with Risa.
Occasionally she liked dueling from afar with Reina over the weather. It allowed for some very interesting consequences at times, including once a dust devil from who knew where that frightened some of the spoiled rich students out of their wits – something that pleased those like Yurina to no end. There was also a time when Michishige and Kamei had been walking along minding their own business when a tiny cloudburst broke and dumped a torrent of rain… somehow on just the two of them, while leaving even those who were walking just behind or ahead of them completely dry. They’d been teased of course, but the two girls managed to make fun out of it and danced around like they’d gone crazy before ending up in a spontaneous mud-wrestling match… Something that horrified some students, but made Ai and Risa, and even a passing Natsuyaki, just smirk knowingly.
Noticing her thoughts had strayed from her papers, she tried to focus once again through the shortening intervals of thunder. Her head was feeling a bit better now, but there was still a dull pain she couldn’t seem to shake. Even with the two of them doing the work, especially now with these matters with the government intruding, they were beginning to work themselves past the point of tolerance. Risa was right; it had been a long time since they’d even been able to fully take advantage of such a simple luxury as a bath.
To that end, the two of them had decided they needed assistants for their Head office. There were of course various school staff working around the building and the rest of campus, but nobody directly under them and assisting them with their specific duties. They thought about putting an advertisement online, sure that just as the students applied they’d get any number of able-bodied and experienced applicants, but in the end decided that it’d be best for their nature if they kept this office completely within the school.
Therefore, they broadcasted a campus-wide announcement that any students of sixteen years or older who would like to make some extra money, and attain some valuable experience in the process, were welcome to apply for the Assistant Headmaster positions. She and Risa had discussed whether to hire one or two assistants, but decided it would be best to have two, for each of the Headmasters. Plus, it gave another student the opportunity for what she hoped would become an interesting experience, both professionally and otherwise.
They’d received, as expected, quite a few applications. However, they were mostly from students who had been through the Circle’s war. This wasn’t surprising; most of the new students were wealthy enough that they had no need for the extra income at the expense of time and work. Still, she’d hoped some of them would see the value in the experience such hard work would give them. She sighed. She wondered what it would be like perhaps never needing to work hard in your life. Sifting through the applications, she decided that she for one would never know.
She of course knew most of the names, but tried not to let that cloud her judgment of their applications. She paused at one though that slightly surprised her. Flipping to the next one in the stack, she noticed that Li Chun and Qian Lin, both of the Chinese exchange students, had applied. Finding it interesting that they would be brave enough to apply for such a job outside of their own language and culture, she appraised their applications carefully, noticing that each seemed to carry quite an impressive range of skills, as well as surprising command of at least written Japanese.
She leaned back in her chair again, trying to remember her encounters with the two girls. They had fought against her in the war, but she certainly couldn’t hold that against them. From what she remembered, they didn’t seem to have very much trouble with the spoken language either. Thinking it would be interesting to have people such as them to work with – and since they were obviously quite qualified, surprising for students even though Chun at least was in her final year – she decided to bring them up with Risa in the morning and ask them in for interviews.
Yawning, she glanced to the window at another crack of thunder and realized that the rain had started pouring torrentially through a strong wind. Reina or not, this was bound to be quite a storm. A sound from the door brought her head back around, and she yelled “Come in!” in answer to the knock, leaning back forward in her chair.
The door swung open, and two rather tall young girls walked in. Ai smiled upon seeing who they were. “Chinami-chan, Yurina, it’s good to see you! Although it’s a bit late, isn’t it?”
Chinami smiled brightly at her as always, though Yurina only gave a glimmer of one. “We just got finished eating,” Chinami said, coming forward to sit in one of the comfy guest chairs before Ai’s desk. Yurina more hesitantly took the other. Chinami actually came in quite regularly to discuss with her how relations were going among the students, especially those from opposing sides in the war, but Yurina wasn’t usually with her.
Chinami glanced over to Yurina before continuing. “I don’t have a whole lot to report today, but Kuma-chan was insistent on seeing you, so I decided to come along as well.”
“Oh?” Ai asked, giving a glance over to Yurina as well, who didn’t seem to quite have the confidence to speak yet. “And how are things going? Kanon and the others staying out of trouble?”
“Oh they are…” Chinami said. “Ever since the… visit from the Emperor, there have been fewer complaints all around. Aika-chan seems to be trying her best to unite them too. I even saw her talking with Sugaya-san, Okai-chan, and Yuuka-chan all together yesterday. They seemed to be planning some bigger get-together that Yuuka was going to invite the others to also.”
“That’s great news,” Ai said with a smile. Well, at least Airi’s handiwork that day was good for something… she thought afterward to herself.
“And how about you?” she asked, turning to Yurina. “Making any friends from across the gap?”
Yurina gave a weak smile. “Not really…” she responded, “Although it’s not from any distaste. I just haven’t been putting the effort into that kind of thing.”
“You haven’t?” Ai asked, sensing she was doing well in approaching the heart of whatever matter Yurina had wanted to bring to her attention.
The young girl shook her head. “I have been talking with Momoko-chan a lot lately though…” Out of the corner of her eye Ai caught Chinami resting her hands in her lap as she watched Yurina, her smile slowly fading in worry, or perhaps disapproval of what her friend must be about to say.
“Tsugunaga-san,” Ai confirmed, folding her hands in front of her. “I see.” The pieces definitely were falling into place. She knew there could be only a few things those two girls would have to “discuss”.
Yurina nodded. “We thought… that as Headmasters of the school, as well as with the abilities you have, that you should have some amount of protection. After all, anyone could walk into this building, and if I’m not mistaken unlike Natsuyaki-san or Shimizu-san…” Ai began to frown as the girl mentioned their deceased partner’s name, “…you wouldn’t have a way of knowing of a threat until it was on top of you.”
“You don’t think we have the capabilities to defend ourselves?” Ai asked, her words punctuated by a loud clap of thunder from outside, causing the two younger girls to jump slightly and glance over at the window.
“It’s not that…” Yurina said, looking down into her lap and smoothing her skirt. “I just don’t like the appearance of you two being vulnerable. Who knows what could happen if we’re not careful, especially with things becoming the way they are in the world. Plus… I know you’d be devastated if anything were to happen to Niigaki-san…” she finished, in a rather hesitant and small voice, as she should with such a personal comment.
Ai only stared at the girl a moment without responding before leaning back in her chair again. Eventually, she gave a resigned sigh, and both girls looked up into her face. “You’re right. I can’t be aware of things twenty-four seven, and shouldn’t take undue risks where either of us are concerned.” Yurina blushed slightly at the subtle reprimand. “That’s part of why we’re hiring assistants, to help us out with the daily work, but also to give us some extra eyes and ears in the office.”
Yurina’s features picked up. “Well that would be good!” Chinami exclaimed. “Wouldn’t it, Kuma-chan?” she asked in a somewhat warning voice.
“Yes… it would,” the younger responded. “But I don’t know… just hiring a couple of office ladies…”
Ai waved a hand in front of her face. “We’re not hiring office ladies, but students, and actually,” She leaned forward to pick up the two applications sitting in front of her. “These are the most promising ones so far. I believe you know them. They go by Junjun and… Linlin, as you’d know them.”
Yurina even broke a smile at that. “Well that might work,” she said, still a bit grudgingly. Obviously she had wanted to offer herself and Tsugunaga-san for the positions, but Ai didn’t want to burden her with something even on top of the troubles she was having with her school work. Still, it might be good to give the restive girls some kind of bone to keep them happy. “I remember them from… from before, and know they’re quite capable for anything you’d need.”
“Yes,” Ai said, with thinly veiled sarcasm. “I believe they are.” Yurina didn’t seem to notice.
“Alright then!” Chinami said, standing up quickly and tugging on Yurina’s arm to bring her up with her. “I’m glad everything’s going better for us all. I’ll be sure to bring you more reports whenever I have them. Perhaps we’ll run into you on campus, right Kuma-chan?” she said, in that semi-dangerous voice once again.
“Right,” Yurina said, giving one last look back at Ai before they turned to leave. “Thanks for hearing me out Takahashi-san, and I’m glad to hear there’ll be someone here helping to look after you all.”
“Thanks for your concern,” Ai said, in a not completely unkind voice. She really was touched by the girl’s concern for her. She supposed she was due it to an extent after what she’d done for her in the war. She stood to see the two girls out. “You two have a great night!” she said with a smile. The two students bowed, and the door swung shut behind them.
Sitting down with another sigh, and sighing again when she looked at the papers still piled up on her desk, Ai decided that perhaps it was time to call it a night herself and see what Risa had waiting for her. She looked at the clock across the room and her eyes widened. Yes, it definitely was time. Risa was bound to come looking for her soon, even if she had to do so in her nightdress.
However, when she looked down from the clock, a flash of lightning illuminated a small form in the shadows beside the door, and she sat up with a start. She hadn’t heard the door open, but perhaps she was just too engrossed in her thoughts to recognize the sound. Still, whoever it was, the fact that she just stood there seemingly unmoving felt just a tad bit creepy.
“Yes?” she asked, organizing her papers in preparation for closing for the day. “Can I help you with something?”
She heard footsteps as the girl walked forward, but Ai didn’t look up until she had the stack she was working on ordered. However, when she did, she couldn’t seem to take her eyes away again.
“Hello, fearless leader,” Reina said, giving a toothy grin from a few steps behind the chairs Chinami and Yurina had just vacated. The girl presented an image that was somewhat jarring to the senses; apparently she’d walked right through the rain on her way here, for she was completely drenched, her blouse sagging down around her waist and her skirt stuck tightly to her legs. Her hair was also hanging heavily around her shoulders. Ai made a little alteration in her opinion of whether Reina was responsible for this storm or not.
“Reina,” Ai said with a smile. “It’s nice to see you.” Despite her words, something tightened inside her with discomfort. “How have you been? I take it there’s a bit of rain outside?”
Reina smiled at her joke. “It suits my mood,” she said.
“Oh?” Ai asked, now standing as she set aside a final stack of papers and maneuvered her mouse to shut down her computer. “Is something wrong?”
“Don’t play coy with me, Ai-chan,” Reina said in a sing-song voice. Ai found her eyes traveling up to the girl’s again, this time in gentle surprise. Reina walked slowly past the guest chairs and around Ai’s desk before coming up rather close to her, dark eyes staring into dark brown from the similar vantage point of their heights. “You know I’m not the same as the other girls that appear in front of your desk.”
“You’re right,” Ai said, now feeling very uncomfortable. “You’re not. So why don’t you tell me what this is about?”
In response, Reina reached up with a damp hand to run a finger slowly down Ai’s cheek. For some reason, in the shock of the moment, Ai couldn’t respond immediately. However, she quickly regained her bearings. “Reina…” she said in a slightly shaking voice. “What are you doing?” She could hardly comprehend the wrongness of the whole sudden situation. “I’m on my way to see Gaki-san.”
“Do you really need to go to her?” Reina asked, and then she leaned her face close and to the side of Ai’s. With as wet as she was, it nearly looked like she’d been crying heavily. “I know she doesn’t completely satisfy you, Ai-chan,” she whispered into her ear. “It’s no fault of her own of course,” she continued, slowly pulling her face back and in front of Ai’s own, their faces centimeters apart as she passed, on her way to her other ear. “I’m sure she’s trying her hardest. She just doesn’t have what you need. What you crave…”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about…” Ai said faintly. How was this happening? She was used to being in control of things. At the moment, things were somehow rapidly slipping out of her control. The thunder boomed in the background as she felt a damp hand touch her wrist and long lacquered fingernails slide slowly and enticingly up her arm. “I couldn’t be happier with Nii-chan. She’s the love of my life.”
“Love…” Reina whispered, the word a caress from her lips. This time though Ai thought she could actually feel the girl’s lips brush her sensitive ear as she spoke, and tried to ignore the reactions of her body to it. “That’s such a nice thing to think about. But does it hold all the answers? Is it what we really need?” Reina pulled her face back again and looked once more into her eyes. “I know what you need, Ai-chan…” she cooed.
“No…” Ai replied, putting great effort into shaking her head only slightly. “You can’t.”
“But I can,” Reina debated calmly. “And do.”
As her lips formed that last sound, she leaned forward and touched Ai’s cheek with them, a very innocent touch, one that friends might give each other from time to time, or even just acquaintances. However, in that moment, from this girl whose lips were still wet from the rain she had perhaps drawn forth, that touch caused within Ai sensations she could not ignore. She felt exhilaration flow through her as if life itself was being reborn from within her, as if she would burst at any moment, perhaps ending her own life but giving rise to something much greater, much grander, so much more alive… The thunder rolling outside drew her into the sound as well, and she felt herself float along with the clouds above, feeling the release the falling rain provided them, just one part of a miraculous cycle of nature.
Then she felt the lips depart the flesh of her cheek, and the intensity of the sensations faded, though they were still there, still boiling with the power that she knew dwelt within herself as well, the power that ached so much for another taste of the kinship it had just felt with its twin inside a being apart from her.
She opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them, and looked into the dark pools across from her that seemed to roil as violently as the clouds she had just inhabited. “That was…” she whispered, amazed that she still had voice.
The girl across from her smiled. “That was just a taste of what you need.” Ai noticed the other girl was breathing heavily, and became aware of her own lungs quickening. The hand that was scaling her arm reached her neck. Reina’s smile widened. “But even I didn’t know it would be that incredible, especially with just a touch.”
“Incredible…” Ai repeated as if in a trance, trying to form a coherent thought. Nii-chan… The name inserted itself into her mind, but at the moment it held no meaning to her, nothing like the intensity of what she had just been a part of.
She felt fingers circle around her neck and pull her forward. “It’s been a long time, Ai-chan,” Reina whispered. Ai could feel the heat of her breath as the distance between them closed at the girl’s urging. “I’m going to enjoy this…” When their lips met Ai became lost in the deluge, as if she too had walked too far within the torrent shrouding her school this eve.
…
When Ai pulled herself at last out of dreams of being lost in an insatiable squall at sea, she realized she was drenched, whether from sweat or something else she wasn’t sure. What she was sure of was that she had lost her clothes somewhere in the tempest, and her skin was pressed up tightly against that of another who lay atop her. That other’s leg also happened to still be between both of her own.
She felt it suddenly begin to move once more against her, and she let out a soft moan at what it did to her already expended body. Then Reina lifted her head, which had been nestled in the cleft above her shoulder. “It’s too bad we were enemies for so long…” the girl whined regretfully, breaking the pounding silence. “I never knew what we were missing out on.”
“Reina…” Ai said, trying her best not to make it sound just like the moan that wanted to escape.
“Yes…?” the petite vixen said, leaning up to take Ai’s lower lip between her teeth and bite down softly, before beginning to suck slowly as her leg continued its motions down below. The girl’s still-sopping hair hung down around Ai’s face, as if shielding what was being done to her from the outside world.
“Nii-chan…” Ai managed to breathe. “I need to see her. She’s waiting for me and will soon come looking…”
Letting go of her lip, though giving it a long lick before pulling away, Reina sighed. “Well we wouldn’t want that, would we?” she asked. “It’s too bad that we have to stop so soon though.” Despite her words, her leg definitely wasn’t pursuing such inaction.
Ai closed her eyes. What had the girl done to her? No, Reina hadn’t done this to her. She’d willfully and enthusiastically gone along. Oh god had she gone along… She’d never dreamt of such an amazing experience. Still, a rapidly intensifying pang of guilt was lodging itself deep inside her to take the place of what she’d just let Reina do to her. Reina Tanaka, the girl she’d hated, who she sometimes couldn’t stand to be around, had nearly battled to the death… and the one with whom she’d had an experience she’d never forget. The worst thing was... she wanted more.
Her eyes opened, and she realized her hips had begun moving with the girl’s actions. “We have to stop,” she forced herself to say, stifling another moan. “Nii-chan will come looking for me.” Hating herself, she looked down into the dark eyes of the girl atop her. “…Will you come back another time?”
Reina smiled. “All right,” she relented, and finally stopped her leg’s movements. Ai almost whimpered with regret.
As Reina slid off her, all too easy with the slickness of their exerted bodies, and began searching for her clothes, Ai lay a moment longer on the plush couch meant to be a place for those awaiting to see the Headmasters near the door of the office. She stared up at the ceiling, but her mind was completely blank of thoughts since she was no longer sure what was worth thinking about.
“Are you gonna get dressed too, or did you just want to kick me out?” Reina asked in that brazen tone of hers as she began pulling on her slightly torn hose. Ai vaguely remembered that hers were now unusable after having basically been torn to shreds. “I can’t imagine it’s embarrassing to dress in front of me after the evening we’ve had…” This time, Ai could hear the girl’s smirk.
Defiantly, she rose from the couch and began the search for her own clothes, pointedly avoiding looking at the other girl. However, she wasn’t sure if that was because of anger or the fear that if she stared at the girl too long they’d end up right back on the couch again. Eventually she had her complete outfit back on, minus the tights which she’d have to be careful to toss in some obscure trash bin along the way. She wondered how she was going to explain that to Risa.
“I can take care of that,” Reina said, strutting slowly up to her and taking the tatters of fabric she held in her hand. Ai turned to face her, and was surprised that the girl wasn’t smirking, only smiling softly. “It’ll give me a good souvenir…” Reina continued, then leaned in to nearly touch her lips against Ai’s again. Ai felt helpless to resist, almost wanting more than anything to feel that rush of the girl’s power flowing into her again. “Until next time…” she whispered, her breath hot against Ai’s face.
Just when Ai thought her resistance would completely break down and she’d assault the seductive girl once again, Reina turned and walked slowly out of the office without turning back, Ai watching her from behind as she went. After a minute she shook herself and glanced around the room to make sure nothing else was out of place before heading out herself, finding Reina nowhere in sight already. The girl was definitely skillful at subtle comings and goings.
Walking through the halls, her mind still felt completely clear of thoughts, which in a way was a relief – all the stress she’d felt before meeting the girl seemed to have completely vanished. It was replaced by an odd sense of fullness and satisfaction, though that feeling ate at her just the same.
Eventually she reached the oak double-doors to their shared rooms, and she leaned against one for a moment before pushing it open slowly. Risa lay back on the large four-poster bed in the middle of the room, a sheer white nightgown covering down to her knees, one of which was bent up in relaxation. She had been writing some notes against her leg, but glanced over when the door opened and beamed when she saw Ai. She looked like an angel, having apparently freshened up considerably after her bath, as beautiful as ever.
“Hey there workaholic,” she said with a grin, sitting up on the bed. “I was wondering if you were ever gonna leave that stuffy old place.”
“I just had some things to do,” Ai said, trying to loosen her voice.
“Uh huh,” Risa said, sliding off the bed. “That’s what you always say.” She came up to Ai quite quickly and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, reaching her hands up to run them from her shoulders down her arms. “Since it’s so late, I’ll forgive you if you ‘forget’ to change into your pajamas,” she advised huskily.
“Actually, I think I should take a quick bath myself,” Ai said, pulling her arms down and pushing her away slightly. “I wouldn’t want to soil what you’ve made so beautiful for me.”
Risa smiled. “I could join you…”
However, Ai stepped quickly and decisively toward the washroom. “But I want to surprise you when I’m all ready,” she called over her shoulder.
“Don’t take too long,” Risa warned in submissiveness. “Or I’ll have to come in to make sure you didn’t drown.” Ai just smiled before turning back forward. “By the way, weren’t you wearing tights earlier?”
“Nope,” Ai responded smoothly. “I forgot about them this morning in the hurry to get to work. Don’t you remember?”
“But I could swear…” Risa said in slight confusion just as Ai stepped on the tile and closed the door behind her.
-
REINAI! *hugstacklespounces*
<-- shameless ReinAi fan
XD
Yes I've been reading, you know that. I just don't comment much in general to much of anything, so yup. I like how the story has been going, and don't worry, we love you and your writing. :D ]
Keep going! ^_^
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Chapter 6:
:o Airi just took out a nuclear missile! I wonder how much more powerful she will get.
Junjun and Linlin have powers! Hmm... are they truly going to go against them?? What are they planning.. hmmm...
Chapter 7:
First it was "Yay! Takagaki!' :twothumbs and then :o and then more :o "ReinAi!!" :mon blood: Poor Risa... if she finds out... :(
But, gah, I'm torn between the two... :err:
Oh Junjun and Linlin applied! Trying to work their way in I see.
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I barely remember my previous comment, and now you returned with a double update... Now there's too much information for me to process! XD
Anyway, I see that you've joined the ReinAi ship. At first I was mentally squealing in shock, then it made sense somehow... For once, I must say that the possibility had been in the back of my mind, but I had dismissed it along the way. The circumstances arent' the best, but it's Skull Reina we're talking about here.
Whoa! The Pandas are going to be assistants? That's just... what they were aiming for, maybe. :huhuh Their whole talking in Chinese and the scheming is suspicious enough, but that's what makes things more interesting. :muffin:
I'm under the impression that Miya is trying to remain unnoticed now. A hard task, considering her reputation, but if all the attention centers on Airi, other things can be done in the background, which is probably what she wants. :roll:
But now Airi is turning out to be a scary individual! :twisted: Well, not scary in the "she's a monster" kind of way, but still... The things she can do, and the things she doesn't know she can do, they might cause yet another chaos. Not by her/their hand, but chaos nonetheless. :roll:
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:dunno: ren-ai......well,....im a tagaki fan but here in ur story, risa has no power so i felt kind of.........hmm.....i dont know! i cant feel the spark between risa and ai! that's why................... :nya: :nya: :nya: yay! REN-AI........
well, i think that's what happened between Airi and Miya, right? their powers drawn them to each other.....but poor gaki!
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Well ...
Two chapters sugoi...
I was very surprised in this occasion.
Always takes months to do its updates.
CHAPTER 6:
Ai has a lot to talk about diplomacy.
And it's a good leader.
But both the Emperor and all these people ... is boring ... :yawn:
hehehhe, politics bores to me, wars missile too. I anti-missile, anti-politics. lol :P
But if you make a JunJun and LinLin with skills martial arts, :twothumbs this be interesting. :twothumbs
I do not surprise Airi. :cool1:
She is the goddess...
everything can stop it... :on hypto:
it is invincible, indestructible. :hiakhiakhiak:
What more can I add of she? :on drink:
Tanaka was a beautiful angel in this chapter. :on yellcard:
Tanaka had no presence! :on redcard:
Tanaka did not !!!!!! :on cloudeye:
Tanaka is my fun in the history of Rokun, and has not done anything funny, witty and outrageous. :lol: XD :D :P
GrRAAA! gRRAAA!
Ai-chan, you blame ...
PpFf, PpFf!! and plop and plop.
Do not be so naive.
or very weak.
Well, what intrigues me quite is the missile.
Why?
Um ...
I wonder if in China there are girls with supernatural powers. :mon pissed: :mon suspect:
My thoughts and my eyes are stuck in this direction to China. :mon geek: :mon pissed:
“I’m afraid she sees more than our most gifted Seers,” Lin sighed.
There are visionaries in china how Miyabi? :mon corn: :mon suspect:
Miyabi that, she has visions about the future is interesting.
but ...
in this story ...
the visions are reliable? :mon cigar:
or can change? :mon dunno:
Niigaki is not my favorite, but it was nice to read it.
Niigaki on my opinion she is weak in this story.
but it is sweet.
but ...
Niigaki showed guts, to give a punch to Miyabi. :on kimbo:
Well Airi ...
When you fell to their knees.
came to you, her prince, to her help.
the Part of Airi and Maimi was cute, Maimi showed little attitude and presence.
but still feel that there is much to reveal and show of Maimi.
showed a little of involvement and that is good. Since in the chapters past Maimi no had involvement or had lines of text to read.
I think it is a neglected area of character of Maimi.
if you are kind enough to do more with the personality of this character of Maimi, please.
I would be very grateful with you.
I am happy to read about a character so wonderful, excellent, unique, for me, this character is epic for me, this character epic... is Tanaka.
This character is amazing for me and that I see is the most complete.
but ...
my other favorite character is ... Maimi Yajima
Maimi is easily crushed by Tanaka for her presence, attitude and personality.
Although... Maimi showed a little her passionate personality.
I believe that, Maimi and Airi not had sex at that time.
The scene was cute, though I see to Maimi as a Tanaka strong and passionate... but Maimi is more reserved and
Maimi apparently she thinks things over before act and carry out. Tanaka ... It leaves carried away by his feelings and impulses without thinking twice.
Maimi and Tanaka are my favorite.
I think, I will stay forever with the characters of Maimi and Tanaka as my favorites in this story.
would be interesting to see, my two favorite characters as best friends.
(http://www.imgur.com/files/090218/Th.Maimi-and-Airi.jpg) (http://www.imgur.com/i.php?i=090218/Maimi-and-Airi.jpg)
Chapter 7 – When Tempests Clash
Interestingly this chapter.
I like reading about the emotions of Tanaka.
Their emotions are reflected in their mood.
storms, rain ...
I am really fascinated with this character, but ...
I do not forget the character of Maimi, which I hope will be as interesting as the character of Tanaka.
I not lost hope.
Ai-chan in his busy office ...
poor ai-chan, you are full of responsibilities.
this is boring? nE?
Sometimes it is better to be like Tanaka.
Doing what one wants, to do what you want.
A world of responsibilities is boring at times.
but a world full of irresponsibility is bad too.
so it's better to have a balance, or level of responsibility and irresponsibility.
Yurina and Momoko each other.
OH!! I understand.
That's nice, Momoko must not be alone.
It's bad when people feel lonely.
Yurina be a good friend for Momoko nE? :hee:
Yurina you should have the courage and guts to offer volunteer help to Ai-chan.
all believe that JunJun Linlin are trustworthy.
aja ...
aja ...
and aja ...
poor deluded ...
poor ai-chan, her eyes are closed.
Well, as always Tanaka.
She does what she wants, what he thinks.
She is a very versatile person.
Knows how to treat people.
Well, she has a lot of presence, it is normal that all fall at her feet.
but Ai-chan...
a question Ai-chan
and Niigaki?
you know that Tanaka is passionate and Niigaki is sweet.
guess you mistook Tanaka, to Ai-chan.
but knowing Tanaka.
There are many options ...
Maybe Tanaka
felt alone, was just bored of have underage girls or just wanted a fun time.
or maybe you want to have fun and the next is Niigaki.
Maybe she wants to play with all people.
Miyabi was Tanaka in a time.
Airi and Maimi just missing.
Tanaka, one never knows what she really thinks.
or what is inside her head.
Tanaka is an enigma.
but ...
maybe she feels alone ...
maybe she desperately seeks someone to share his time.
maybe she does not want to be alone.
their emotions are reflected in the climate.
Maybe she hiding something ...
and can not talk or share this something. and her emotions are reflected in these storms and climate change.
Maybe Tanaka crying in the rain, their anger is shown in the spokes, their desperation is reflected in the thunder that fall on the ground.
Tanaka perhaps trying to escape loneliness.
or maybe really Reina wants to be with someone worthy of her.
or maybe really Tanaka feels attracted by ai-chan.
Tanaka is very complicated to understand but it is very interesting.
Tanaka and Maimi are the characters I really despair. :lol:
but I do not mind that.
I love the characters of Tanaka and Maimi. :heart: :heart:
Ai no!
was unfaithful you to Niigaki! :on blackhole: :on blackhole:
Niigaki when he finds out.
Although ...
This writer is smart.
something must be hidden under his sleeve.
Something ...
JunJun and Linlin will have more authority I suppose.
They learned many things.
JunJun and Linlin maybe...
they have strategies as soldiers.
They can explore, analyze and observe the enemy closely.
to know their weaknesses.
Ai-chan is the director.
Ai-chan is a brilliant mind, I might say.
perhaps, want to finish first with Ai-chan.
but ... not directly to ai-chan.
maybe...
the part weak and vulnerable.
This part weak of Ai-chan is Niigaki.
uM...
maybe, the life of Niigaki is in danger. :glasses:
Most important for Airi, is love of Maimi.
and what is most important for Maimi, is Airi.
And then continue with the weak parts of Airi, Maimi and Miyabi.
Tanaka at the moment shows no weak part.
It looks that you worked hard at the scene of ai-chan, and Tanaka.
was very detailed.
the scene of Maimi and Airi is in tatters, for the scene of Tanaka and of Ai-chan.
lol....
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I always read whenever you update, but I always forget to comment because I have to do homework or study after.And if I was to comment,it would always sound so cheesy or something lol.I love your fanfics always anyway.ReinAi scene... :mon bleed2: :mon loveflower:
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Oh man, I was putting this off until I had time to really enjoy it. And I'm so glad I waited b/c I enjoyed the hell out of this. XD The TakaGaki at the beginning was cute~ :wub: But besides that, I can't help but think that Ai-chan's choices of Jun/Lin is gonna come back to haunt her, especially considering their powers and their roles in the Chinese government. :sweatdrop:
Enough slightly meaningful analysis and onto the sexiness that is Reinai~~~~~ :drool: Ok, I feel absolutely awful for my precious Gaki but I can't deny that the scene was freakin delicious. Reina is quite persuasive in her seducing. :P Case 1, Manoeri. Poor girl, btw. But ahhhh, the Reinai is like taking cookies from the cookie jar~~~~ :grin: Can't believe Ai-chan is "rescheduling" their "meeting" though. haha Can't she see this simply cannot turn out well?
Anyway, reeeeeeeally good chapter!!!! :twothumbs
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Chapter 7 – When Tempests Clash
“Ai-chan,” Risa said from her desk as she perused the paper she held just above it. “The Imperial Government has requested another meeting, to keep us ‘informed’ of events and to seek… our counsel.”
“Our counsel?” Ai asked, leaning over her own desk and rubbing her forehead deeply. It had been a long day, and her head was beginning to hurt. She had a feeling it was coming to be that time of month again too. “Don’t we have enough work around here? We have to tell people how to run the country too?”
I'm still thinking that this is only what someone wants the girls to think, but really they're trying to manipulate the girls into using their powers in some way for some sort of bigger plot.
“Well actually…” Risa said, frowning down at the paper and peering out of the corner of her eye to Ai. “It doesn’t mention us in the request. Most specifically, they wish to speak with ‘Suzuki Airi-sama’.”
Ouch, just a bit of a slap in the face there. :sweatdrop:
As for Tanaka…” Memories of her own violent encounters with the former leader of the Skulls flitted through her mind’s eye. “From what I hear, she’s not suitable for much anything these days. Stays in the tower nearly all the time. I know her better than that though… It only makes me wonder what she’s up to.”
She does? Guess she's like Miyabi in that she wasn't thrilled about the notion of returning to classes either.
She has her hands full enough just with the Mano girl at the moment.”
“How is she doing, by the way?” Ai asked idly, relaxing back into her chair. Maybe she’d call it in early today. No… she just had too much work to do…
“Well enough, considering,” Risa replied, picking at another paper on her desk. “I think she was just too innocent to know what she was getting into with Tanaka, so she fell head over heels too quickly and is now paying the price.
Eh? Something happened to Manoeri? Details please! :o
Their talks have grown to what it’s like being shot with an arrow and nearly dying, onto being involved in a war where no few of her friends were killed. Yamada-sensei is good, but unfortunately there have been too many things out of even her own considerable experience happening to girls around here.”
So then...could Manoeri have had some type of "hero-complex" for Reina, which made her fall for her so hard?
She turned to Risa with a warm smile. “Hey, why don’t you take off early? Go get yourself a nice relaxing bath and head back to our rooms. I think you’ve done enough good work today.”
Risa gave her a sly smirk in return. “It’d sound a lot more relaxing if you’d join me in that bath. It’s been forever since either of us has had time for anything relaxing like that
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees...relaxing. ;D
I’ll catch up with you later, and maybe we can watch a movie from bed or something.”
Reluctantly, Risa organized a few papers and rose from her desk. When she looked over, Ai was once again engrossed in some of her own. “All right, Ai-chan,” she submitted. “But you’d better promise me if we do that, it’ll be some kind of romantic movie that neither of us will remember very much of by the time the credits roll.”
Ai smiled, just glancing up toward the other girl. “That, I might be able to live with,” she agreed, and with a bit more of a bounce to her step, Risa came over to give her a hug around the neck and kiss on the cheek and started to head out the door.
:twisted:
As she began to close it behind her, she turned back seductively. “Don’t keep me waiting too long, Mr. Moonlight…” she teased, calling Ai by a nickname she’d given her after one of their favorite songs.
Okay, considering that we know that the girls here aren't in MM/H!P, now I find myself wondering just WHO sang "Mr. Moonlight" in this universe. :lol:
*AICHAN REMEMBERING DUELING WEATHER*
Heh heh heh, abuse of power. XD
*TAKAGAKI PLAN TO GET ASSISTANTS*
It's a good idea to have people that they can trust for something like this. More importantly, they need to be sure that they actually hire people who'll actually be able to do actual work. After all, there's bound to be a large number of students who'll apply simply out of, for lack of a better term, "fandom." :roll:
She paused at one though that slightly surprised her. Flipping to the next one in the stack, she noticed that Li Chun and Qian Lin, both of the Chinese exchange students, had applied. Finding it interesting that they would be brave enough to apply for such a job outside of their own language and culture, she appraised their applications carefully, noticing that each seemed to carry quite an impressive range of skills, as well as surprising command of at least written Japanese.
Co-ing-ki-ding?
Doubt it. 8)
*YURINA'S "CONCERNS"*
Fair enough, and in a way, it's probably quite practical that someone be thinking about stuff like this. We know, after all, that even with their powers, the girls are all still human, and are far from invincible (the battles that they fought proved that point).
But what about Momo? Is Yurina still thinking/troubled about what happened to her? :?
a flash of lightning illuminated a small form in the shadows beside the door, and she sat up with a start. She hadn’t heard the door open, but perhaps she was just too engrossed in her thoughts to recognize the sound. Still, whoever it was, the fact that she just stood there seemingly unmoving felt just a tad bit creepy.
Maybe Yurina had a good reason to be concerned after all. :O
“Hello, fearless leader,” Reina said, giving a toothy grin from a few steps behind the chairs Chinami and Yurina had just vacated.
I was about to say "on second hand, maybe not" with regards to the last comment I made, but considering it's Reina... :-X
Reina walked slowly past the guest chairs and around Ai’s desk before coming up rather close to her, dark eyes staring into dark brown from the similar vantage point of their heights. “You know I’m not the same as the other girls that appear in front of your desk.”
...
Reina reached up with a damp hand to run a finger slowly down Ai’s cheek. For some reason, in the shock of the moment, Ai couldn’t respond immediately. However, she quickly regained her bearings. “Reina…” she said in a slightly shaking voice. “What are you doing?” She could hardly comprehend the wrongness of the whole sudden situation. “I’m on my way to see Gaki-san.”
Uh-oh...this is.... :shocked:
*REINA MAKES HER MOVE*
Holy crapolee.
:stunned:
Reina Tanaka, the girl she’d hated, who she sometimes couldn’t stand to be around, had nearly battled to the death… and the one with whom she’d had an experience she’d never forget. The worst thing was... she wanted more.
...
Hating herself, she looked down into the dark eyes of the girl atop her. “…Will you come back another time?”
Reina smiled. “All right,” she relented, and finally stopped her leg’s movements. Ai almost whimpered with regret.
Aichan noooooooooooo!
:OMG:
Poor Risa. :pen_cry:
*AICHAN COMES "HOME"*
Dammit, this is NOT going to end well.
:mon scare:
-
Thanks everyone for the comments. :) What's wrong with me? Two updates in two days? Even if it is for different stories. But still... it's not been too long for this either. Well, wonders will never cease. ;) Perhaps finishing the book I just did over the weekend had more of an effect than I thought it would lol. First, comments!! :D
Essy: Thought the ReinAi might drag you in here. :lol: I hope you keep enjoying!
Fen: Yes, it's difficult being torn among ReinAi and TakaGaki, isn't it? That's why a nice dose of both for a while is a good thing I think, no? ;)
Amarghetta: Joining the ReinAi ship? Haha, I created it, remember? Don't think I'll ever be rid of those two... not that I care to be. :wub: Don't worry, it won't be long now until we'll find out what JunLin have been plotting all story long lol (and even going back to the last XD). And Airi is looking pretty scary... it's definitely noticeable when drawn away from her perspective for a bit. Perhaps you'll have more fodder for that thought after this chapter...
Ayase: Your comments are just too cute! :lol: From what I've seen of them though, I'll just say in response that this should be your story. ;) The next few chapters may come as kind of a whirlwind...
Maimi_Yajima: You know I'm always grateful for your long comments. :) Don't feel too bad about the Airi/Maimi scene in comparison though... They're still quite an innocent pair, while Reina, well, we've gotten to know well, and Ai... she's lost quite a bit of innocence lately as well...
berryzmm: I'm glad to hear you're reading my stories. :) Both of them! I hope they stay interesting for you. :)
sbk: I'm glad you enjoyed it. :lol: And if you're worried about that turning out badly, wait until you see what the next chapter holds lol. I just don't know what it is about people being mean to Gaki around here...
JFC: You're in the "This is not going to end well" camp too, eh? :lol: I think this chapter will fit your detailed comment style perfectly, as there's a lot in there to dissect and think about. For everyone else too, I wonder how much you'll all take from it. :) I definitely can't say this about all my chapters, but no detail is too small to have meaning...
Anyway, on to the update! 8 comments is wonderful!!!! Though I'm not expecting that again. :) I just hope you enjoy~
-
Chapter 8 – Affairs of State
The great door crashed open, causing the very walls to vibrate and shake loose dust that the best efforts had not been able to sweep away up until that point. Ai had barely even gotten to her feet, and cast a frantic glance at the still-reclining forms of Reina and Miyabi before gesturing with a twitch of her head for Risa to follow her. As always when she looked her direction, Reina had caught her eyes and held them for a moment until she could tear them away. Starting toward the door, she noticed Maimi was somehow already ahead of her and halfway there after the young girl that had invited her to such a meeting for the first time.
Turning back to nod in a quick bow of apology to the row of IHA and parliament members – top men such as Ishihara and the Prince were too busy dealing with the crisis to attend such a meeting so far from their center of administration – she hustled after Maimi, and the three of them caught up to Airi just as she began stalking down the hall. Ai cast a regretful glance back at the now-damaged door barely hanging still off its hinges.
“I think I’ll have to carefully consider any more invitations like this you give me from now on,” Maimi said in a half-joking, half-sour voice.
“Those people are idiots,” Airi growled briskly, not slowing her pace in the slightest.
Ai decided that, as the part of the host, she was also obligated to act the part of the mediator. “These people are very important men, Airi. None of them may be the Prince, but they speak for him toward us just as surely as if he was here.” She hoped mentioning the Prince might give her some leverage, if the connection she thought she saw the two share last time was truly genuine.
At her words Airi spun, her face a thundercloud waiting to burst. Ai was glad she didn’t seem to share the same affinity herself and Reina did with the weather, or she would be afraid of standing on this spot at the moment. Since she could finally catch fully up to her, Maimi turned with her while taking her arm, an equal glare on her face, though Ai knew it was not at all directed at her.
“The Imperial family may have some intelligence in them,” the youngest of the group said in a quiet voice that was somehow times more authoritative than had she shouted, “But these bureaucrats aren’t willing to give up too easily the power they have, however foolishly they utilize it.”
Ai had to listen attentively to the girl’s words, since she was still using an odd mixture of normal Japanese and her Imperial accent. She was glad the girl had spoken that way in the conference room though; hearing her do so likely helped the mentioned powerful men overlook her age and size, although today she was looking above her age anyway in a designer white trench coat she had donned apparently to combat the cooling air. With the collar up as it was and the belt tied neatly at her waist, it gave her a very nearly regal bearing. She wondered yet again how the girl managed to procure such an outfit before remembering Airi’s family was quite wealthy, not to mention lately people would likely give her anything she desired. She also had her hair done up in a flaring bun above a well-made up face reflecting strongly her glossy red lipstick.
“Why would you think the politicians aren’t letting go of power?” Ai asked. “They were always mentioning how the Imperial family directed them to do this or that.”
“Miya and I have had some long talks,” Airi answered in a still quiet but thin voice. “Besides, just having the suspicion makes it easy to tell how smoothly they lie.”
Ai thought she saw Maimi’s eyes drift to Airi’s face for a moment, but she was generally impressed with the girl’s restraint in regard to Airi and Miyabi now. She wondered what Airi had done to finally convince her she was not at all threatened.
“Dealing with those men isn’t even what’s important anymore,” Airi continued, now looking somewhat thoughtful, but her face quickly turned down in anger. “I still can’t believe China would do such a thing as they have, especially with no response from the rest of the world that didn’t suffer from a devastating storm.”
Trying to pass over Airi’s mention of the storm, Ai decided to continue on the rational path with her young prodigy. “It’s still a matter of widespread speculation about what happened to that missile,” she interjected thoughtfully herself. “Of course, the government has not been shy about praising our returned gods for the protection of the Japanese people, but for some reason everyone else is having a tough time believing that, and instead it casts even more suspicion over us. In other words, they know what they’re dealing with in China, even a newly protectionist and militarized one, but it’s us right now that’s the mystery, and people are always ever more afraid of that which they can’t understand.”
Airi’s blazing eyes on hers didn’t let up for an instant. “Well maybe we should show everyone exactly what it is they’re dealing with here, and when they see it’s only a few schoolgirls they’ll laugh and focus once more on a real threat.”
Ai felt Risa grab her sleeve, and she looked over to see a concerned expression that seemed to convey, “Oh that would go over well…”
Turning back to Airi, she decided to soften her approach a bit. “I see you’ve come to accept your role in this,” she said gently.
Airi threw up her arms, almost smacking Maimi in the face, but the other girl instead of becoming angry looked like she nearly burst out laughing, and clutched Airi’s hand tightly in both of hers. “Of course I haven’t!” Airi exclaimed. “Didn’t you hear what I said about schoolgirls? But if these people are idiotic enough to keep this up, I can’t really do anything other than play along.”
Sharing another look with Risa, Ai was trying to decide how to keep the girl from calling such powerful men idiots to their faces when said girl suddenly spun and started back down the hall. “Where are you going?!” Ai called after her, her feet not yet ready to move to follow.
“To my rooms,” the girl responded, not slowing or turning back. “There’s nothing else to do here today. Let them do whatever fool thing they get into their heads. I don’t care.”
Ai stood quietly, realizing it would be fruitless to chase after the girl yet again. When Maimi looked back as she escorted her new girlfriend away, she shared a sympathetic look with Ai, but she also smiled with pride as if to say, “What can you do?”
Ai sighed.
“Um, Ai-chan…” Risa said from beside her. “All those men are still waiting in there. Miyabi and Reina too.” She added the last two as if they were but an afterthought. Hearing her girlfriend say Reina’s name, liked it always seemed to lately, made a knot inside of her chest tighten.
“Yeah,” Ai said resignedly. “I suppose we should go back and smooth things out.”
When the two headmasters returned to the room, the men stood respectfully in anticipation. Reina and Miyabi exchanged glances as if considering rising as well, but apparently decided against it as they continued lounging in their chairs. Ai couldn’t help but notice the men’s eyes look beyond the two of them out into the hall, clearly expecting Airi and Maimi to follow them back.
“Suzuki-san has become tired and decided to return to her rooms,” Ai informed the assembly. She could tell all the men suddenly relaxed in disappointment.
“Did she give any direction on how to proceed?” the one who had generally been taking the lead asked.
“She trusts your admirable judgment as to how to present Japan to the rest of the world,” she lied again. She heard Reina snort a laugh from beside her that she covered up by a long series of coughing as if she’d choked. As the men looked uncertainly down at her, Ai felt the strong urge to punch the girl in the face. Risa’s hand tightening around her arm might have been the only thing keeping her from doing so.
“With all respect, Takahashi-san,” the man continued, “We have been without direction for too long. If Suzuki-sama would give us even the smallest bit of guidance, we would have something to comfort the people with, since they would know she is watching over them.”
Ai was speechless for a moment, now beginning to agree with Airi about these men being lunatics, but while she was silent Miyabi stood and fixed the man with a timeless gaze. “You men are looking for guidance?” she asked. They looked a bit surprised at her speaking, since she and Reina had generally been completely silent throughout these meetings, but at the same time excited. “Suzuki-sama” might be the main object of their ridiculous worship, but Ai thought they might respect Miyabi and Reina no less. Airi was just the only one that ever actually talked to them or even recognized their existence.
“Don’t you have an Emperor to lead you?” Miyabi continued in a calm voice.
“Yes, but…” the man began.
“And isn’t our Emperor as divine as we are?” Reina looked up at her as she spoke, and Ai’s breath almost caught. It was the first time one of them had actually acknowledged the divinity the country attributed to them. Airi of course would never say anything of the sort. Looking back at the men, she was surprised at the effect it had. No few of them looked like they might fall to their knees right at that moment.
“But, the Emperor is…” the man babbled. “You are…”
Miyabi glanced over to Ai and gave a small smile before returning to the men and closing her eyes. When she opened them the men gasped, and when Ai looked over her eyes widened as well. The girl’s pupils had disappeared, leaving only deep black orbs behind. However, looking into them was like peering into the endless void of the universe. Upon seeing them, one or two of the men did drop to their knees.
“If you don’t follow our Emperor,” Miyabi stated in a clear tone, “The hope for Japan is as thin as a needle. Before long will come a time when we three must go away, when you can no longer come to us for guidance.” Protesting murmurs rose at that, offering a range from desperate pleas for them to stay to offers of protection that no harm would befall them. As Miyabi waited patiently for their voices to trail off, Reina looked from her to Ai as well, and Ai saw a question and rare fear of her own in her eyes.
“Ishihara is powerful, and plans to use this opportunity to take control of the country, as you know well,” Miyabi continued. This time the men looked between each other in shock, apparently wondering how she would know this. “If that happens, we are lost. Japan would not even survive until the possibility of our return.” This time there was only silence around the room. “Our enemy is near to making its move. In the absence of other orders I have but one: prepare wisely.”
With that, she bowed her head and closed her eyes, falling into her seat as if all her energy was suddenly expended. Reina reached over to tend to her, and when she opened her eyes, they were back to normal.
…
It was in silence that four girls walked toward the offices of the headmasters. Each was engrossed in her own private thoughts, but every one from time to time surreptitiously glanced toward Miyabi. For her own part Ai worried about what the girl had said, for what it would mean to the school and the country, but also, strangely, she worried for Reina. Casting a glance to the girl who walked on the other side of Miyabi from her, she wondered at her idle thoughts.
When they passed a crossing hallway, Miyabi took Reina’s arm and pulled her gently toward the way that would lead out of the building. “Excuse us,” she told Ai and Risa, “But we should return to the tower. I’d like to have another short talk with those men along the way too.”
“Do you need us to…?” Risa began to ask, but Ai took her hand and shook her head.
“I’m sure you need some time to talk,” Ai acceded to the two others, and gave a pointed look to Risa as well.
“Yes, right,” Risa said, catching Ai’s meaning and turning back to the others. “Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help though,” she said earnestly. Miyabi nodded, and Reina just flashed a small simpering smile as they turned away and headed toward the exit.
After Ai and Risa began walking again, Risa looked up to her in frustration. “I feel so helpless,” she said in a very helpless voice. “We try our best to work with Airi and the others, but they end up always just running right over us, as well as anyone else that seems to get in their way. Sometimes I wonder who really leads the school.”
“They’ve earned their place,” Ai replied in a low tone. “You weren’t as involved as I was in…” Ghosts of the past flashed across her eyes. “We wanted to do the best we could in reopening the school, but remember the primary purpose of coming here was to give everyone a refuge… and them a place to work from. Our responsibility is the school, but anything beyond that I’m afraid is their responsibility.”
Ai for one wasn’t sure she was as disappointed as Risa was indicating from her words. If anything, she felt sorry for the girls who whether they liked it or not were thrust into the role of responsibility as at least religious leaders, and at most, especially lately, apparent advisors or even heads of state. All the people who stayed camped outside the school gates were a testament to that. Ai thought that her abilities weren’t far shy of those of the others, even though Risa didn’t have any special powers, but she decided her role was never to be so grand again. She accepted that, and was content enough in her current role, and with Risa. However, the cloud now almost ever-present in her mind disputed that conclusion.
Risa coughed a laugh. “Yeah, some refuge this is,” she said as they neared their office. “More like a prison. Were it not for Natsuyaki able to transport us around, we would all be stuck here unless we wanted to wade through flocks of worshippers.” She said the last word as if it was extremely distasteful.
“Don’t be so hard on them,” Ai told her. “Think about where those people are coming from. They – we – have a power they don’t understand, and as far as they know it’s already been used once to save the country… either that or destroy it, depending on who you talk to.” She felt Risa squeeze her hand at that in sympathy, but did her best to keep such thoughts out of her head. “To those people, they must really seem like gods.” She glanced over to Risa. “For all we know, they may be gods.”
Risa nearly completely broke out laughing at that. “I’m sorry Ai-chan,” she managed. “But if those three are gods, I’m—”
She cut off as they entered their office, and the two newly-hired assistants looked up from their paperwork at their desks in the front of the room to greet the new arrivals. Ai had their desks placed in such an arrangement to try to prevent any more unexpected visitors from just dropping in, although in one unfortunate case it was already far too late.
Upon seeing their bosses enter, the two Chinese girls rose and bowed. “Welcome back, Takahashi-san, Niigaki-san,” the oldest, JunJun, greeted. “I trust you had a good meeting?”
Ai smiled. She was pleased with how polite the two of them were. In the week or so they’d been working here, she’d learned they were quite capable of any task she or Risa gave them, and so couldn’t have been happier with her decision to hire them. Risa had been reluctant at first, wanting to hire permanent students, but Ai convinced her by mentioning how JunJun would be graduating at the end of the year anyway, and whoever they’d hire, it was likely to include at least one seventh year.
Parting from Risa as they exchanged warm smiles, she nodded to JunJun, who was her personal assistant, and strode to her desk. Looking at the papers the Chinese girl had apparently been piling up there since the moment she had left, she sighed. Sometimes the girl was all too efficient, it seemed. She had no desire to dive back into the paperwork after the events of the afternoon.
Glancing over to Risa, who apparently had no such qualms, and if grudgingly, bent to her papers, she noticed that JunJun was still standing and looking hesitantly toward her. “Yes?” she asked the tall girl. “Is there something you need to tell me?”
“Ano…” she began, seeming unsure how to go on. “Did you hear any word from those men as to what our… as to what has been going on in China lately?”
Ai’s face suddenly softened, and she smiled reassuringly. Of course; the girl would be concerned about events in her own country. She could only imagine the two of them must have even thought of returning lately as tensions between here and there seemed to only become worse. She noticed that LinLin was also watching their exchange, curious as well.
“Nothing exceptional has happened,” Ai said in what she tried to make a comforting voice. She could feel the girls’ tension relax at her words. “They continue to isolate themselves, while the rest of the world keeps a close eye on both of us. Apparently there have been talks at the United Nations… but there are so many dissenting opinions that nothing is actually being done in the bureaucratic quagmire.”
“Is Suzuki-san going to do something about it though?” LinLin asked worriedly. “I don’t know what to think of what she might be able to do if she attacks China…”
Ai frowned, and saw Risa look up as well at the girl’s words. “I assure you LinLin, Airi won’t be attacking anywhere. I have a feeling she’d be horrified at even the idea.”
“Oh…” LinLin said, seeming unsure whether to be relieved or resentful. “But earlier I thought I heard she was pretty upset…”
Ai smiled at the vexing memory. “Don’t worry, most of that was directed at the men we were talking to.” She decided to leave out that part of it actually was irritation with China, even if she included the rest of the world as well.
She looked back down at her papers and sighed again. She didn’t want to go back to the reports, and also didn’t want to continue discussing the meeting with her assistants, who for their part at least seemed satisfied for now and sat back down to their jobs. She looked over to see Risa focused on her paperwork as well and just watched her for a minute, how she innocently yet dedicatedly kept to her task. Realizing how lucky she was to have such an amazing partner, she took in how her hair flowed in waves down her neck above a very elegant white dress that fit her form perfectly. It was a form that, at least in Ai’s opinion, was infinitely better than…
Coughing, she started for the door. JunJun looked up to her, and she told the girl, “Please continue, but feel free to leave whenever you’d like.” She checked her watch. They really were in that meeting a while… “The evening’s lengthening, so you’re already over the clock.”
“That’s okay,” the girl who was nearly her age replied. “I’ve got a bit more to do if that’s all right.” She smiled. “I really enjoy working here. Thank you for hiring us.”
“Yes, thanks!” LinLin chimed in, and Ai looked up to see Risa rising from her desk too at her movement.
Ai raised a hand to forestall her though. “Sorry Nii-chan, I have to run a quick errand. If you’ll not be here too late, I’ll see you back in our rooms?”
“Okay…” Risa said, slowly lowering herself back down. She glanced at her papers. “I have a feeling I’ll be here a while yet though.”
Ai nodded. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone, but I’ll stop by first.” Risa looked up at her again, and Ai could detect a slight trace of concern in her eyes. There had been many times lately when Ai had “errands” to run that she didn’t fill in the details of. She smiled, trying to ease the girl’s worry, and headed out the door.
Upon leaving the Headmaster’s compound, she clutched her jacket tightly around her at the brisk early winter wind. Taking a left out of the door, she glanced at the plaza where only a few students were hurriedly making their way through the weather before entering the trees along the path to the Ivory Tower.
It was a path she had taken often lately, so when she entered the door to the tower, a few students who dared to come into the front lounge to study while awaiting perhaps a chance of seeing its inhabitants just glanced at her before returning to their work. Ai was a bit surprised they were still here – since the meeting just got done a short time ago, they’d surely already encountered Airi and the rest. Perhaps they just didn’t feel like heading out into the weather yet.
She headed out one of the back doorways and up a set of spiral stairs to the third floor, where she opened a heavy door into a hallway. However, in the hall she was surprised to find Airi, Maimi and Chisato talking. Upon hearing the door they turned to her, and Chisato smiled a greeting.
“Back again, huh?” Airi asked, while Maimi stared at her with a more scrutinizing gaze. Her former partner knew her quite well.
“Yes,” Ai said, fishing around for an excuse. She’d only run into some of the others once in her other trips here, and then the shrewd Maimi was not with them. “I’m still a bit worried about something Miya said after you left. I hoped to talk to her a bit more about it.”
“Oh?” Airi asked. “What happened?”
Ai scrambled to find her words. She didn’t want to get into a prolonged discussion about this with them. Her eyes focused beyond the younger girls for a moment. She thought she could almost feel her target in rooms beyond.
“She… well, in your absence she did her best to show those men their place,” she explained, hoping the explanation was neutral enough to not get her curious about more, yet satisfying enough as well.
As she hoped, Airi donned a satisfied smile. “Good. I’m glad someone else tried to make them realize their idiocy.” Her smile faded slightly. “And it’s about time Miya started speaking up a bit,” she grumbled under her breath. “Be nice if Reina would too, but she’s been so anti-social… though lately for some reason it seems like she’s been improving.”
Ai tried to hide her blush at that with a move to walk past the group of girls. When she reached them though, Maimi laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see the girl’s intense gaze. “I’m sure you don’t need the warning, but be careful in dealing with her.” Ai noted that the girl did not specify a name of who she might be dealing with. “She can be very devious, despite any good intentions there might be.”
“Maimi!” Airi gasped, and the taller turned to smile at her girlfriend and pat her hand.
“Oh come on,” she said wryly. “You know I’m never going to get tired of being mean to that girl.”
Airi sighed dramatically, but Ai took the opportunity to slip past the group and hurry down the hall. They definitely were not helping. “Good luck!” Airi called from behind before she turned a corner.
Letting out a long breath, she slowed her pace as she approached another set of stairs. If she stayed on this floor she would find Miyabi’s rooms, but they weren’t her goal. She scaled the stairs that were so familiar to her, and upon reaching the next level slowed down even further until she came to another heavy wooden door. Steeling herself, which included trying to work up her bravery as well as tempering her burgeoning excitement and the butterflies in her stomach, she rapped at the door. She remembered back to the meeting when she’d felt like punching the girl, and decided to prepare herself for that to help drown the excitement. That would definitely make a satisfying start to the evening.
“Come in!” she heard a voice call from inside, and opened the door to gasp, all thoughts of violence flying from her head.
The curtains in the room were drawn against the weather, but flickering candles on either side lit the area in a warm light. The nature of the flickering caused shadows to dance around the edges of the four-poster bed, which was adorned with a red velvet blanket and cloth at the edges. It was the girl standing at the foot that really took her breath though.
Reina leaned casually against one of the bedposts, her slim form covered only by a long black nightie that smoothly accentuated her contours. Ai’s eyes rose from the girl’s pale legs beneath it past her waist, and she soon came to realize the girl didn’t seem to be wearing a bra. She gulped thinking of what else she might not be wearing.
“Reina…” she breathed, unable to form any other sort of coherent thought.
“I thought I could feel you coming, Ai-chan,” Reina said in a silky rhythm. “I wasn’t sure when I first noticed it, but it seemed like a storm rolling just over the horizon. I knew it had to be you.” She stepped away from the bed and toward her, spreading her arms and looking down at the cloth that barely covered her. “What do you think? It’s been a long time since I’ve had this out.”
Not trying to think about the implication of the last time she might have had that particular outfit out, Ai swallowed again. “You look…” Fucking sexy was the thought that kept shouting within her head, but she couldn’t let herself utter the words. “Ravishing…”
“Ooh,” Reina purred. “Ravishing… Reina likes that description.” She swayed closer to Ai until she could feel her breath. Suddenly conscious of the situation, Ai pushed the door closed hard behind her before staring into deep smoky eyes. “So does it make you want to ravish me?” she asked, her voice lowering further.
“Yes…” Ai replied. She wasn’t going to be able to keep her hands off this girl much longer. Then she wondered why she was trying to.
“Well I’m here,” Reina murmured, and she leaned closer to where their lips almost touched and Ai could feel the girl’s as they moved. She also felt like she was drawing in the other’s breath. “All you need to do is take me…”
Submitting to temptation as she had done so many times lately, she accepted the offer and captured the soft lips before her, her arms snaking around the slender waist to pull the girl tightly to her as the kiss deepened quickly. The worries of the day refreshingly fleeing her mind, she gave into her sinful cravings, which she knew had to derive from her own glaring imperfections, in this room that used to be her own but now was for her part reserved for just such activities. Somehow, the bed was far more comfortable than she remembered.
…
“Shachou, I think we’re going to return for the night… Are you all right?” The voice coming from in front of her startled Risa, and she realized she had been staring out the window at the mid-evening twilight for a long while. She’d had a difficult time refocusing on her work since looking out it well over an hour before to see Ai disappear into the woods in the direction of the tower.
She knew Ai probably wanted to talk longer with Natsuyaki or one of the other girls, but she’d heard that Ai had been going that way fairly often of late. She of course had no reason to think anything of it, but couldn’t help but be bothered by the fact that yet another night she might be kept for hours at whatever she was doing there.
It wasn’t just that either. After she’d return, even on the nights they would make love… Ai just seemed distracted for some reason. She hoped her dearest companion wasn’t bothering herself too much with the troubles of the day; they were others’, after all. Risa had tried telling her as much on many occasions. The woman just had too good a heart, and took others’ concerns upon herself all too easily.
“I’m fine,” she responded, refocusing on the room and glancing toward her assistant, stifling a yawn. “Go back to your beds and have a good rest. You’ve done good work today.” They really had. Risa couldn’t deny being a bit skeptical when Ai broached the idea of hiring them, but they were exemplary workers. She definitely would much rather have them than any of the spoiled rich kids that infested the campus these days.
“Okay,” LinLin replied, and she and her friend both bowed to Risa, who rose to do the same in return. “Otsukaresama deshita.”
“Otsukaresama,” Risa smiled back, and she watched as the girls made their way out, talking quietly as they entered the hall.
She sighed and stretched, realizing that she hadn’t gotten up from her chair since looking out the window earlier. She walked over toward it again and looked out to see the heavy breeze blowing the many trees scattered around campus. The view from their office here really was the best as she could see the expansive campus from its center spread out below her.
Glancing down the path, she saw the Chinese girls leave the building on their way to their dorm, and a few other straggling students rushing on their way likely to their own. Even though she hadn’t expected it, there was no sign of Ai, and she glanced over toward the tower rising up out of the trees against the mountainside. Windows were lit sporadically around its face, indicating that some of its tenants were still active while others must have already retired for the night.
Sighing again, she walked back to her desk to straighten her papers and log off her computer before strolling past the reception desks to the door, flipping off the lights as she left the room. The ancient building creaked in the wind as she walked through its halls once again to her room. She laid a hand to her stomach as it growled in protest at what was to become her late meal, another one she realized that Ai would not be present for. That wouldn’t be an issue; she’d just leave something ready for whenever the woman was able to return.
Entering her room and switching on the lights in there, she smiled upon looking at their bed. Perhaps Ai was too worried about things she couldn’t control lately, things that were even further out of Risa’s control.
There were things that Risa could control though, and she decided that she would do her best to relieve her love’s tension when she did return. Taking her wistful eyes from the bed, she turned to the kitchen. There would be a time for that, but this was a project best begun with one of those exceptional meals her mother had taught her long ago.
-
Aww, Risa is all loving and caring, making a meal and all, and then Ai goes off and cheats again :angry: I didn't think Ai would go back to her. Reina must be really good :lol: I can't see Risa hurt, because she's already going through enough in Nocture. :lol:
and here comes Junjun and Linlin again, acting like everything is all normal :thumbdown: Though, I can't wait to see them strike!
Nice update :yep:
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:OMG: hidoi author-san :err:, poor gaki!. :fainted:.........i love the renai scene on the previous chappie but ai-chan's becoming the ultimate cheater here :tantrum:....though, if i was her, i also can't resist if there's a stunning person in front of me, wearing only :on bleed:.....ehem...okay! i do not wanna go any further about those stuff :on_plug:.....im on the fluff stuff, :nya: not on the, "you know stuff" hehe but maybe once in a while......okay, i was rambling---enough--
but author-san......really, poor gaki, im a tagaki fan after all! :luvluv2: well, mii-rii of course...oh, nice update on your other fic....really love the miya-risako scene...kyah! :on gay: :on gay: :on gay: sorry, rambling again.
ne, ne....miya's acting cool, haha! i wanna see a miya-maimi friendly banter over airi..... :whistle:
im going to sleep now! its already 3am in the morning,,,,mou, your fics made me up till dawn! haha kidding! :sleep: :byebye:
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OMG Poor Risa... :cry: It's all Reina's fault that she's too good!Lol. :yep: Ai-chan is a sucker for Reina's sexiness, too...I don't blame her. :drool: :hee: :bigdeal:
Great update!Thanks! :heart:
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Hmm, well it's nice to see that Airi, Miya, and Reina seems to have gotten a sense that they are leaders and that many people and the government is looking up to them for guidance, but it's also fun watching them put stupid politicians back into their place. XD
Well, it seems that JunLin got the positions. Seems like a good position to start spying.
Lastly, omg, poor Risa. I feel really bad for her. Stupid Ai-chan. Reina is a bad influence! A sexy and yummy for us influence, but still a naughty influence! Ai-chan is really going to regret it later. ;)
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Amarghetta: Joining the ReinAi ship? Haha, I created it, remember?
My bad! I had no idea they were your invention! XD
A good one, indeed. :P
Anyway, now you're making Miya scary, too. That leaves only Reina to pull a devious trick now, something worse than tricking Ai into her bed... :P
I wonder who else besides Miya and Maimi know about ReinAi. Risa evidently has no idea, and Airi is blissfully clueless. (Too busy being a reluctant, reincarnated goddess, I guess.)
JunLin efficient and respectful is cute, but it's probably part of their plans. Now, it's only a matter of waiting for whatever you have in store for us... and the girls.
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lol... XD :lol:
I wonder ...
Why I am doing this ...
ha ... pfFff I will never understand my for my. XD :lol: :P
Well. Here I go! XD
Ai-chan has surprised me.
supposedly she love to Niigaki.
"supposedly"
But she... Takitty wanted to see to Tanakitty. lol... (seem names of cats) lol XD
The image I had of Tanaka is someone just too lonely.
tanaka and maimi, me intrigue much.
Tanaka in this chapter was more mature.
but does not lose the charm her character.
Niigaki, I think that your life will change.
And the life of Ai-chan as well.
I Glad to see a little personality in the presence and character of maimi.
Tanaka and Maimi
I hope to know more about this two.
I see more confidence in Maimi and Airi in their relationship.
Maimi knows to Ai-chan.
she already knows and President the relationship of tanakitty with takitty.
a love triangle ... XD of nini, takitty and tanakitty... XD :lol:
I ask myself if Tanaka opened her heart to Takahashi.
Well, a dedication to the character of Tanaka.
[youtube=425,350]4zgvzIJ_P8Q[/youtube]
Well, a dedication to the character of Nini.
[youtube=425,350]kasEIyr9_L8[/youtube] no have subtitles in English... lol... but in spanish yes. :)
the instrumental is the one that has subtitles in english. :sweatdrop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZCjV0iWtIY
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Ai-chan is been cheating my lovely Risa T_T damn... how mucha I hate that ¬¬u
But well I know that kind of temptation xDDDDDDDDDD but even with that T_T
Poor Gaki, she all love... and Ai is all sex :thumbdown:
I like the "goddess" talk part xD
Update hellz yeah! 8)
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If I were the girls, I'd be terrified to have all these super high officials looking to me for guidance. It's just...an odd arrangement. Though I know JunLin are planning something, I can't help but feel bad for them, considering the current issue between Japan and China. Reinai is my weakness, I can't help but like them. :drool: Can't believe Ai's doing this to Gaki. And the worst part is that Gaki can see it. Given, she doesn't know the extent of the situation but she can tell something's up.
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Hello everyone! I'm so sorry to not do comment responses this time, but it's way too late, and I shouldn't even be posting a chapter. :lol: But I'd like you guys to be able to read it... A note and warning though: I believe this is the longest chapter I've ever written (nearly 10,000 words), so take it easy and don't do it all in one sitting if you start to have trouble with it. :) It's one unified story that I don't feel right splitting up, but take the time you need to read it. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy. :) I've been looking forward to this one for quite a while...
Chapter 9 - Love and War
As Reina fussed with her hair in front of the impressive vanity she had obtained with the room – she couldn’t begrudge the amenities of her formerly hated Ivory Tower, that was for sure; the bath was to die for – her thoughts idly wandered to a few nights back, when she had carefully prepared her room, and herself, to continue her seduction of Seishin’s great new leader. There were two leaders of course, but to Reina only the one mattered. Only the one had the power she craved to tap into.
She smiled as she thought of the black nightie she had worn, as not even the blatant mention of using it with someone else as well seemed to phase her quarry in the slightest. Of course, that was a complete fabrication. She would never be so neglectful toward so precious a prize. She smiled further at the thought of how the girl had dealt with that certain almost negligible article of clothing.
Then she sighed, and tugged at a braid she’d been working on. Since that night, she hadn’t seen a hair of the woman, and it had gotten to the point where she almost stormed into their building to demand her. Such a thing was out of the question of course. It was an art she pursued in her seduction – bluntness would only disfigure a masterpiece, and the ripples such reckless action could cause would throw the whole canvas into chaos.
Still, she had to do something. Perhaps she’d become too attached to the woman. She learned the consequences of that with the Mano girl, how she left when she couldn’t keep up with Reina’s desires, and how afterward Reina didn’t want to see anyone. She had to be more careful here, because the trophy was all the more tempting. She almost shuddered. The things that woman’s powers combined with her own did to her…
While her mind lingered as it tended to do so often lately, she heard a knock on the door that brought her slowly out of her reverie. At the second, and seemingly more hesitant, rapping, she called out that she was coming and checked her hair once more before rising from the finely carved cherry chair and striding to the door. When she opened it, her heart almost stopped.
There she was.
Instead of resuming its natural rhythm, her heart next leapt into her throat in distress that she wasn’t prepared for the woman to be here at the moment. She darted glances around at the unmade bed, the half-opened curtains letting in the last rays of daylight, and the mess of her accessories on the vanity table. However, within that next heartbeat she schooled herself. She was Reina Tanaka, Master of the Skulls, not some average flighty teenaged girl.
The corners of her mouth quickly turned up into a simpering grin. “Ai-chan,” she said, smoothing her voice into sugary honey. “I’m surprised to see you here. Not that I’m complaining…” she quickly amended, as if that wasn’t her plan all along, “But it’s been so long…”
After speaking, she stared into chocolate eyes that gazed fiercely back at her above that tortured countenance she’d come to desire so intensely. Still, something was different about this time. This time there was an added attribute to the stormy silence that normally characterized her paramour. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but that was what still caught her breath and prevented her from saying more. She couldn’t have imagined the woman could be any more alluring, but as usual, she was yet again surprised.
Her smile widened as the woman’s arms rose to take her shoulders. “Do you want me?” she whispered harshly out of the blue.
If she had her wits about her, Reina would have noticed there was something wrong with how the woman asked her such a thing, but with her sights set on the target in front of her, she blissfully ignored such a trifling feeling. “Yes,” she replied in a breathy whisper of her own, her eyes never leaving the other’s. The short few days she’d been away from the woman’s attentions suddenly felt like torture. “I want you to take me like you have before. You know I’m helpless in your arms.”
The next thing Reina uttered was a thin cry as she was suddenly driven back by an indomitable force as if a sudden gale had just burst through her door. Within moments she found herself pinned to a pole at the foot of her bed, her cries stifled by a mouth pressed tightly against hers and a tongue ruthlessly invading her throat. She couldn’t help but utter a pleased moan at what was being done to her, and somehow realized that it wasn’t all her mind’s creation – it seemed there was a current of air spiraling around them as they became locked together.
Without warning however, almost before she knew it the woman withdrew her mouth to a loud smack at the abruptness. Reina nearly cried out in protest before it moved to her neck, licking and biting seemingly without abandon. Reina felt her eyes nearly roll back into her head. In all their forays, the woman had never been this aggressive toward her; this demanding. She didn’t know what the reason for it was, but she was not about to complain. As her eyes squeezed shut tight at the rapturous pain at her neck, she felt the wind seem to coil more tightly around her, rising up to her hair to damage beyond repair the braid she had worked so hard on.
Then, as abruptly as it began, the attack ended, only the throbbing of the marks left behind. Reina opened her eyes to see Ai pull away, though still with her hands white-knuckled gripping her shoulders. That same stormy expression was back again, and this time, even though the gale had ceased, Reina thought she saw the storm in those eyes… just as she thought she had that day so long ago…
“Is this what you want?” the tempestuous demon asked her, the words ringing within her head. “Do you want to be taken? Do you want to be assaulted?”
“Yes…” Reina replied desperately, wondering why the woman continued with this game when she could just be doing as she so eloquently described. “Violate me, Ai-chan! That’s what I want!” Despite her wish, if the woman did not begin something again soon, she would be far from averse to taking matters into her own hands.
Instead, Ai’s hands left her shoulders, and she stepped back, the corners of her mouth turning up in revulsion. “You’re pathetic,” she said, in a voice with the fury suddenly drained out of it. Reina noticed the eyes had returned to their calm, brunneous hue as well. “Is sex all that matters to you?”
Reina wanted very much to inform her that sex was definitely the only thing that mattered to her at that moment, but budding realization of the situation began to temper her emotions. “Is there something wrong with that?” she asked. “You haven’t complained about it so far, despite coming to me nearly every night. Are you having doubts about using me in such a way? If so, rest assured I have no complaint.”
Ai looked at her a long moment before saying quietly again, in what now was a pained voice, “I’m sorry for using you, Reina.”
Reina almost laughed. “Does it look like I care? Have I ever asked for anything else from you? You think too much about my feelings, Mistress Takahashi.”
“Do you have any feelings?” Ai responded quickly.
Reina, momentarily stunned, eventually furrowed her eyebrows. “You’ve seen my feelings,” she told the woman. “In our time together, you’ve perhaps seen them all.”
“Have I?” the woman responded, almost as if to herself. Then her eyes refocused on Reina’s. “Don’t you ever wish there was something more?”
Reina’s frown deepened. What was the woman going on about? Something more? There was her daily life, and every boring thing it currently entailed except possibly for those few interesting meeting times. Then there was her night life. The headmistress knew that just as well. She had her own days when she led her normal business-like life, her life she spent with the woman she’d taken as her partner. There were also her nights, which of late had been Reina’s.
“What are you talking about?” Reina asked, and she stepped toward the other. “Just kiss me, and we’ll have the night, and then we’ll each go back to our daily lives.”
“No,” came the quick response, and a raised hand stopped Reina’s advance.
“Then what are you doing here?” Reina asked in annoyance, realizing she was not going to be satisfied in this way tonight.
“I came to tell you it’s over,” Ai responded firmly. “And to help you.”
Reina’s mood was rapidly deteriorating. “Help me? I don’t need any help.” She turned and tossed herself onto her bed, her face toward the pillow away from the woman, and she pulled up a manga she had stuffed beneath it.
“Whether I like it nor not,” Ai responded, “I’ve allowed myself to become close to you these last weeks. With what we’ve shared… I’ve developed an empathy with you as well. I know you’re lonely.”
Reina snorted a laugh. “Hardly,” she retorted. “If I am at all, it’s because you’re not on this bed with me right now.”
“Don’t you want to love? Or be loved?”
At that, Reina turned her head back toward the woman, a wry grin on her face. “Aww Ai-chan, are you trying to tell me you’re not in love with me? I would have thought you’d have to be in order to do the kinds of things you’ve done to me. You’re the one with the high and mighty morals, after all.”
“I love Risa,” Ai replied quietly, simply.
Reina continued to stare into the cloudy face. “Oh?” she asked, quietly herself. “Do you? Then why have you been letting me have my way with you? I thought we’d been through this already. How big of a deal is love really?”
The clouds across Ai’s face seemed to become fitful, threatening to burst but somehow staying intact. “I think I thought I deserved it,” she responded finally, almost as if to herself. “For all the evil… for the horrible things I’ve done, I thought I didn’t deserve to be happy, to be in such a beautiful relationship with such a beautiful person. I thought I was no better than…”
“Than who, Ai-chan?” Reina pressed, annoyance returning to her voice. “Than me?”
Ai looked up at her, seemingly startled at seeing she was still there. “No,” she responded firmly. “You had always been on the right side, had always done the things that were virtuous. I must have thought you had it all figured out. Who was I, someone so despicable, so unworthy, to question the ways of someone like you? How could it be wrong to do the things you do?”
Reina flashed a smug smile. “Now you’re beginning to talk sense.”
“But I was wrong.”
The woman’s voice came as a gust of wind slamming shut a door. It left no room for argument, and made Reina’s smile immediately vanish. The storm was returning slowly into the other’s eyes.
Ai stepped closer to the bed, laying a hand one of its poles and looking up at its finely carved canopy. “I’ve learned the truth now. It’s come clear after my time with you, after what’s been going on in our discussions with the government, with the rest of the world… even from when we were the bitterest enemies.”
“Oh?” Reina said, feeling a feral instinct rising within her, and likely reflected in her own eyes. She barely tried to keep the bitterness out of her quickly rising voice. “And what might that truth be?”
Ai fixed her gaze on Reina again. “The world is not black and white. Within all good, there is evil, and within all evil there is at least a glimmer of good. I may have evil within me, but that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of good, that I don’t deserve good.”
She walked slowly from the post along the bedside, closing in on Reina, who stopped trying to follow her with her eyes and returned to her manga, though not absorbing any of the words or pictures on the page.
“You know the last time I was here?” Ai asked. That brought a weak grin to Reina’s face again. As if she could forget… “Afterwards, when I returned to my rooms, Nii-chan presented me with perhaps the most satisfying and delicious dinner I’d ever had, even though she had to warm it up after spending all evening creating it, because I was so late getting in. Afterward we talked as she gave me a massage, thinking I’d need it after working so long…” Pain flashed through the cloud of her face, and those stormy eyes began to moisten, but she went on, “She went out of her way to do what else she could to try and show me her love, and all this without even a thought of sex at the time.” Then her now-blurred eyes refocused on Reina. “But later, when it felt like nothing more than the most natural thing we could have done, we did make love.”
Reina stared back into those eyes, those eyes that had drawn her in with their stormy violence, and she saw integrity in them that she to that point perhaps couldn’t have imagined existed. That vision caused her vocal chords to freeze, and so she was helpless to listen to whatever the woman had to say next, and secretly, pined for what it would be.
“Reina,” she said, and the named girl hung onto her words. “All these nights you’ve had…” She swallowed, her eyes moistening again as her face tightened. “All these people you’ve been with… In all that time, have you ever even once actually made love?”
Up until that point, Reina hadn’t even thought of the concept. Sure she’d heard it of course. She knew people supposedly fell in love. She didn’t know why that had anything to do with her, though. She expressed herself through her emotions and actions on those nights the girl mentioned, those nights that they’d recently spent together.
But now, after listening to the girl’s words, she saw something different in them. The nights they’ve had were some of the greatest of Reina’s life, and she knew they were just as incredible for the other woman. She had thought that if that wasn’t love, if that wasn’t this ideal that was supposedly such a great thing, than what was it? However, upon hearing the woman talking about the other that she loved, for perhaps the first time in her life she wondered. If what she and Ai had been doing together lately wasn’t the best there could be, as it apparently wasn’t for Ai, then what was there?
Apparently taking Reina’s ponderous silence as a negative response, Ai reached down to lay the backs of her fingers lightly to Reina’s cheek, which burst with sensation from the touch as if the effect was as vivid as a bolt of lightning.
“I’m sorry,” the woman whispered, seeming truly sincere. “I hope you’re able to someday allow yourself to experience that.”
Seemingly of their own accord, Reina’s hands reached up to grasp at the wrist near her face, and she looked up, now through blurry eyes of her own. “Show me, Ai-chan,” she said, her voice almost hoarse. “If you know what this is like, help me understand. Help me to be able to love.”
To Reina’s deep disappointment though, the girl withdrew her hand from her grip, looking at her sadly. “I can’t,” she said, her head shaking slowly. “You know I can’t. And besides, it’s something you need to discover on your own for it to be true. Even if I was able, I couldn’t just try and make love to you, and make you suddenly understand.”
At the rejection, Reina drew back within herself again, and her aura darkened. “Fine,” she said. “I knew it couldn’t be real. What I do… what I know; that is real.”
Ai continued looking down at her, even though Reina was no longer drawn toward the woman herself. However, she still knew there was sadness in those brown eyes. “I’m sorry then, Reina, but I have to leave. There's a long talk I need to have...” Reina watched her legs as she walked toward the door, but stopped at it. “Genki de ne…” she said softly, finally, before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
A moment passed, and then the manga Reina had been reading violently flew across the room and crashed into the door, falling neglected to the floor. As Reina’s arm sank back down to the bed, she set her jaw tightly. She didn’t need the woman anyway. She was Reina Tanaka, Master of the Skulls and reluctant god-leader of Japan. She could have whatever and whoever she wanted.
However, right now, what she needed was satisfaction. The blasted woman had teased her, made her desperately wanting more, and then by her words made her want even more, but left without actually doing a single thing for her. She got up from the bed and walked back to her vanity, straightening her hair and wiping her eyes. They didn’t look too bad – whatever the demon had done to her, she’d apparently not let it affect her all that much.
She realized she was still in her sweats and a t-shirt, but decided that she wouldn’t need any more. After all, if things went the way she expected, she wouldn’t be wearing whatever she had on much longer anyway. Snatching something small up from the vanity table, she flipped the lights off and left the room to enter the hall, beginning her journey to her quarry. Normally she would want to have more fun and try to conquer a difficult situation, but not this night. Tonight she just craved the satisfaction, and wanted it in the easiest way possible. To that end, she had an idea of the best place to go.
After descending the spiral staircase, when she entered the next hall she noticed another girl walking down it from the opposite direction as if coming in for the night. Upon seeing that the other was actually slightly shorter than her, she knew who it must be.
When they came close to passing, Chisato looked up, and stopped short in apparent surprise at seeing Reina out and about, something which had been rather rare lately. “Tanaka-san…” she said, and she quickly tried to adopt a weak smile. “Good evening.”
“Hello,” Reina said, studying the girl’s face, but mostly just wanting to get by her so she could be on her way to her satisfaction.
Chisato’s features suddenly turned to concern after having apparently seen something in Reina’s own face. That caused Reina to try to smooth it out to fix whatever the problem was. She couldn’t have that happen where she was going.
“Is everything all right?” the young girl asked. “I heard about what Miyabi said the other day, and it’s driven Osuzu and Rii-chan into quite a fret. If…” She hesitated, seeming insecure in how to continue. “If you ever want to talk or anything, I… Well, I know you’ve been keeping to yourself a lot lately…” After finishing, she looked up into Reina’s face as if to judge her reaction.
“I assure you, I’m quite fine,” Reina said, almost feeling like smirking. “Whatever Miya has been raving about lately has nothing whatsoever to do with me.” She tried to ignore the memory of her inexplicable feeling of fright when the girl had started said “raving”. “And I also assure you, I’ve been far from alone lately.” Let the girl take that as she would.
“Oh…” Chisato responded, her eyes lowering, but then looked up and smiled. Somehow it caught Reina off-guard with how genuine it seemed. “Well I’m glad you’re all right. While not quite in as bad a shape as Osuzu or Rii-chan, I’ve still been worried…” She blinked, having apparently almost zoned out while she was speaking, and blushed. “I’m sorry. I mean, I’m just glad you’re all right.” The girl then began fidgeting slightly, leaning her weight from foot to foot.
Reina frowned at the girl’s odd behavior. She wondered if being stuck in this tower with Reina and the rest of the Skulls was affecting her sanity somewhat. She wouldn’t be surprised if it did – after all, she and Risako were alone among figurative giants, not to mention in a place revered by anyone else who set foot on this campus.
Reina lifted a hand and rapped smartly on the girl’s rounded head. “Maybe you should worry more about yourself than someone like me,” she advised. “Or have you forgotten I can take care of myself?”
The girl raised her head at that, smiling once again and even letting out a soft giggle. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m silly to be so concerned.” Apparently feeling her spirits lightened, she looked back down the corridor she’d just arrived through and yawned, stretching. “Where are you off to, anyway? It’s getting to be a bit late... not that I’m saying you need to be careful being out so late,” she hastily corrected herself.
Reina smiled indulgently. “I’m off to see if I can catch myself a little bite.”
At first Chisato stared puzzled at Reina’s blooming grin, but then comprehension seemed to dawn on her, and her eyes widened. “Oh…” she said, softly at first. “Ohh…” However, she certainly didn’t share Reina’s jubilant outlook.
“Come on!” Reina said. “Chin up! You are a Skull, after all!”
The young girl’s eyebrows furrowed again. “I am? I didn’t know the Skulls were still around.”
Reina’s mouth fell open in mock appallment. “The Skulls will always exist!” she proclaimed grandly, then prodded the girl in the chest. “Even if the organization collapses – which it hasn’t, I must inform you! – they will always exist in the hearts of those who follow their ideals.”
“Their ideals?” Chisato asked, not in curiosity as much as somewhat reluctant confirmation.
Reina leaned forward to whisper into her ear. “Fish on a hook…” she said, and pulled back grinning.
Chisato’s face dulled, and she nodded her understanding. “Thank you, Tanaka-san,” she said, but there was something in her eyes that made Reina’s grin falter slightly. “I’ll remember that.” Then with a nod and apology, she brushed past Reina’s shoulder on her continued way into the building. After just a couple steps, she turned back once again. “Even though I’m sure it’s pointless,” she said evenly. “I’m still glad you’re all right.” Reina nodded, still with some uncertainty, and the girl disappeared down the corridor.
“Strange girl…” she mumbled to herself as she continued on her own way, remembering her own intent, especially after her words to the girl she’d just met made her even more antsy.
As she stepped out into the night, she breathed in the air and tried not to look at the building rising up in front of her before turning to the left to take the southern path, beside which just a little ways down was a place she knew well but hadn’t been to since they’d returned to the new Seishin.
At first she didn’t come across anyone else, until her path from the tower merged onto one of the main paths coming from the campus center, after which she came across a few students making their way back to their houses after a late class or dinner. A few didn’t really notice her in the dark, but another few that did glanced at her with wide eyes as she passed. In turn, she gave them each a smirk that made them look to teach other in bewilderment. The girls who dwelt in the tower didn’t come to this part of campus often at all, and so she had a feeling that these students would be talking about their run-in with her as a matter of gossip for days to come.
Soon she came to the end of this southern path, and took the eastern fork, to the left of which she could see the large building of House Nakazawa already looming out of the trees before her. To the right she could also see the entrance to House Matsuura behind a thin line of trees, and far ahead and to the right across another path glimmers of House Goto. She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason she thought what she could pick out of it from here looked more austere than it used to, as if it knew of the fate of its last leader.
However, shrugging in disinterest, she quickly arrived at the entrance to House Nakazawa, and pausing a moment to take in the ancient paneled door of what used to be her residence as well as the not-so-secret lair of the Skulls, she pushed it open and entered the large front lounge.
At this time of night there were of course many students milling around the lounge, studying or playing, whichever suited them most, and so yet another girl entering the building wasn’t really a matter of much interest. However, the few who did look her direction took a double-take when they realized the new arrival was not wearing seifuku, an unusual state for any student except almost exclusively for when they were in the privacy of their own rooms. As Reina strode through the lounge, whispers broke out as the observant students got a better look at her and were actually able to recognize her. For the first time since her “election”, the currently recognized Head of House Nakazawa had made an appearance in her dominion.
Despite her appellation, at the moment Reina didn’t have an interest in talking with the girls she led, though she did grin inwardly in response to the bits of talk she heard, which included awestruck comments concerning her in general, as well as how she walked through here as if she knew she owned the place, and in nothing but sweats!
After hearing more specific comments like, “I heard she nearly killed Mistress Takahashi after maiming her bodyguard!” and, “You know whenever it rains here, she’s crying, right?” she stopped, not far from the door to all the rooms, and turned back to the throng of students who suddenly fell silent at seeing her attention turn to them.
“Even though I’ve never been here, I take it you all know me…” she said in a soft voice befitting more her petite form than the presence that at the moment was the attention of the whole room. A few of the students nodded slowly, but most just continued staring as if still in amazement at seeing her among them. “But I want you to know that I don’t cry.”
The girl who had stated the claim to her friends moments before fell into a scandalized blush, but a few others let out giggles at the obvious absurdity that Reina was apparently correcting. However, Reina just fixed her eyes hard on each of the students as she looked among them one-by-one. She was having fun with this.
“When it rains,” she began to explain, “Those are the times you don’t want to be around me.”
She grinned in satisfaction at the mass of thunderstruck faces after that, and turned back toward the door to the rooms, only to see another smallish, if older-looking, girl come through it while peering down at some documents in her hands, at first not aware of what she had walked into.
However, after taking only a few steps she stopped and raised her eyes, looking around the deafeningly silent room before settling them on the one unique-looking person in it. Upon recognition, her eyes widened as well, but Reina thought it wasn’t, as with the other students, due to just Reina herself – as a new assistant to the headmasters and a valuable help in the war she of course knew the new school leaders quite well – but more in surprise that Reina was in this place at this moment.
“Tanaka-san!” LinLin said, still with the surprise in her voice. Her hands dropped to her waist as whatever she held in them was apparently completely forgotten. Reina wondered idly if it was related to the new work she was doing for Ai and Risa, and then quickly stopped herself from continuing along that line of thought. “What – what are you doing here?”
Reina’s smirk grew. “Well I thought of just stopping by to introduce myself to everyone, but I see there’s obviously no need for that.” As LinLin just continued to stare at her, her smirk wilted a bit. “So…” she continued more seriously, “I thought I’d go up and see if I could find a new young girl to corrupt instead.”
The Chinese girl didn’t seem to have heard a thing she said though, and suddenly just broke into a smile before nodding her head briskly. “That’s nice. It sounds like a good plan, Tanaka-san!” Then at least part of what Reina said finally seemed to sink into her. “Oh… go up?!” she asked, as if it was the most unthinkable thing in the world.
“Yes…” Reina said, now wondering if yet another girl was losing her sanity. Perhaps she should start keeping a closer eye on what was going on around here. Before she could say anything further though, the wide-eyed girl suddenly spun and ran back through the door she just came through, and a moment later Reina could hear heavy footfalls as she apparently quickly ascended some stairs.
Reina turned back to the crowd behind her, which still hung on her every movement yet now seemed a little confused as to what just happened, as well as impressed that the Chinese girl had even managed to talk to her. Somehow, she was no longer as sure in her purpose of coming here. Dealing with the Emperor’s goons was one thing, but she realized how long a time it had been since she’d even gone out among the normal population.
“Is there anyone in here who doesn’t think of me as some untouchable goddess?” she asked the room, but after realizing what she just said, she actually came to somewhat like the idea. Turning around again before anyone could respond, if even anyone had dared to, with a renewed spring in her step she passed through the door in the back of the lounge.
Not thinking too long on what she left behind her, she smiled as she scanned down each hallway and the doors that lined it. She could hear music and chatter coming from behind a few, and memories welled up in her of when she’d passed this way previously. Her eyes lingered down one hall which led to the back of the house and to the lounge the Skulls had claimed their own. She wondered how it was used now; if current students treated it just like the front one, or if stories passed down still afforded it a modicum of respect and fear for how it was previously. She felt a tinge of desire to go see, but decided against it. She wasn’t in the mood to run into any more awestruck students, and she had a very specific objective here after all, one that continued to gnaw at her despite the slight oddity back in the lounge.
Finding the familiar flight of stairs, she scaled it slowly until she attained the third floor. Heading down the hallway, her ears stayed attentive to what lay behind each door until she came across one about halfway to her goal that caused her to slow to a stop.
She stared at the numbers “313” a moment, a strange sensation seeping into her that she couldn’t identify. She couldn’t hear anything from behind the door, but the sensation still tugged at something inside of her, in a way as if drawing her to the room, but at the same time setting off alarm bells in her head to stay far away from it. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before, but deciding it must have just been created by her imagination as a by-product to the frustration she was currently feeling, she made her feet start up again and walked the rest of the way to the door she was looking for.
She lifted her hand as if to knock, but stopped before doing so. That was not how she wanted to begin this encounter. Instead, her fingers fell to the doorknob, which she turned slowly and gently trying to not make a sound. Unsurprisingly, she found it was locked. Smiling devilishly, she reached into her pocket for the key she had picked up from the table in her room in the tower, and inserted it into the lock. Turning it, it clicked, and she pushed the door open.
When the room came into view, she saw two beds, one with well-made pink sheets and the other with just the futon covers, looking like it had not been used for ages. Well, Reina supposed it hadn’t. It had been a long time since she actually slept in her assigned dorm room after all.
After taking in the beds, her eyes drifted to the girl who was seated at the desk near the pink-covered bed. She was just now turning to see what the sound was from the door, and for a moment squinted in the dim light of the room outside the pool of her desk lamp as if unable to identify who stood in the doorway. Smiling, this time in anticipation of finally sating her desire, Reina stepped into the room and swung the door shut behind her, her eyes resting on the slim, longhaired girl at the desk, who finally recognized the intruder.
Eyelids shot up, and the girl nearly jumped out of her chair, banging her knee on the desk though appearing not to notice the pain it must have caused. “What are you doing here?!” the girl cried, partly in anger but mostly in what sounded like dread terror.
“Why, I thought I’d drop by my old room,” Reina replied, swaying over to her bed and pushing down on it as if to test its softness. “See if I left anything, you know.”
“Oh…” the girl said, no less fright in her voice. Reina knew her old roommate and classmate had reason to be concerned about her sudden appearance, but the fright the girl displayed did surprise her a bit. “Well, if you would, please look quickly and leave. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Why not?” Reina asked uncaringly, sitting down on the bed as if continuing to test it. “This is my room, after all. If I wanted to, I could spend the night here.”
The girl across the room wrung her hands in front of her as if just the thought was nearly too much for her to handle, and her eyes strayed over to the door as if thinking of trying to make an escape. “Your room is in the Tower now, Reina,” she said nervously, as if the thought of that place brought up even more unpleasantness. “This is my place. Mine! You hear?”
Reina frowned. “You’re acting awfully strange,” she said, and stood up again. “What’s the matter?” She suddenly began smoothing her voice into honey. “I thought you liked having me around… having me near… having me…” She paused a moment. “…Erina.”
The girl now looked at her, and her anxiousness drained away as if just Reina’s words were enough to force submission. “No…” the girl said, and began to shake her head. “No... I’ve gone through too much. This can’t be happening again.”
“What can’t be happening again?” Reina asked, slowly making her way toward the girl. She was a bit disappointed at her seeming frailty, but it definitely didn’t affect her beauty, which Reina decided would be more than enough for her tonight. “You know you want me. You always have.”
“No…” the girl kept repeating, desperate eyes fixed hard on Reina as she closed in on her prey.
Suddenly Reina was upon her, and she snaked her arms around the slim waist. Erina seemed as if she was about to cry, but that didn’t distract Reina. She knew that once she started, the girl’s tune would quickly change. She leaned her head in, focused on quivering lips, feeling a surge within her at her soon-to-be fulfilled passion, but just before lips touched she felt a hand on her stomach, and suddenly she was pushed back.
Regaining her balance, Reina looked into the face in front of her, but it was different now. Now the fear was nearly gone, and in its place long-suffering anger.
“No,” Erina repeated, but this time in a much firmer voice. “This is not your room any longer. It is mine, and you are not welcome. Do you have any idea what you did to me?” Reina was silent as she watched the girl’s expressive face, and she continued, “When I left your room that night I was distraught… I cried until early the next morning when I fell asleep… Before too long my teachers noticed what a wreck I was and sent me to the school counselor.” Reina swallowed, and the girl nodded briskly.
“That’s right. I went into counseling! I was in such distress… I never told your name to the counselor, as if she would have done anything because of who you are anyway, but eventually it seemed to do some good – she’s such a wonderful person – and my life went back to normal. For days now I’ve been able to focus on my studies, and my teachers have praised me on my grades returning to where they were, especially when so many of us are struggling.
“But now… You just come in here like… like… you just own the place! And I’m your property!”
Reina cleared her throat. This was not happening… “I only—” she began, but was quickly cut off.
“No!” Erina demanded. “I don’t want to hear it!” She pointed at the door. “Get out of here! I don’t want to ever see you here again.” When Reina didn’t move, the fear returned to the girl’s eyes and her voice softened many times over in realization that no matter how much she wished it, if Reina didn’t want to leave there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it. That was a fact she knew all too well. “Please…” she implored, “Leave me be?”
Reina only stared. Was this truly what she was like? Was she the true uncaring devil that drove everyone she came into contact with to such a state? Ai had handled it calmly perhaps, but then again the woman was also her match. A normal girl like her former roommate stood no chance. Instead of the exhilaration that had been teasing at her stomach ever since Ai first entered her door earlier, she now felt a heavy weight settle into it. She did not desire the girl before her any longer. She didn’t desire anything.
Without saying a word, she almost stumbled dazedly away from the girl’s desk and toward the door. When she reached it, she looked back once to see her still with wide eyes as if in disbelief that Reina actually listened to her, and made her fumbling way into the hallway.
She almost didn’t remember making the trip back to the tower, though somewhere along the way she’d at least regained a normal pace. Instead of going back through the crowded front lounge, she’d gone to the back exit through the Skulls’ old lounge – apparently stories from previous students had a good enough effect, because it was empty and appeared no different from the last time she was there – and walked through the woods to the tower to avoid running into any stray students out late at night.
Her mood had changed from the stunned feeling after her encounter with the Nakazawa girl into a dull depression that she wondered if might keep her shut up in her room for a long time once again. However, she wasn’t back yet.
Entering the tower, she walked through the first floor hall and found the spiral stairs. Upon mounting the first step, she heard soft noises coming from the floor above, but seemingly within the stairwell. She couldn’t identify them at first, but when she was about halfway up recognition flared within her mind. Despite everything she almost smiled at the thought of what she might be about to uncover.
Taking the rest of the stairs as quietly and stealthily as possible, she attained the second floor to see two small forms standing off in a shadowed corner of the stairwell. They were pressed tightly together, which combined with the soft whimpers and breaths of exertion gave a clear picture to Reina of what they were doing. At first thought, she wasn’t sure who they were, because they seemed too small to be anyone she expected to be here, but as she stepped closer the realization hit her, and she froze. Amid all the thoughts running through her mind at that moment, she didn’t know whether to be proud of the girl for working so fast, or jealous of all things.
After another moment of watching, the act becoming more and more unbearable as it went on, she cleared her throat, and the forms sprang apart. At least, one sprang away. The other remained rather relaxed, but still turned her attention briskly toward Reina.
“Well I must say,” Reina said through a lopsided grin, the best she could manage under the circumstances, “As always, you definitely are doing the Skulls proud.”
“Tanaka-san,” Chisato said in a somewhat hoarse, breathless voice. She glanced at her mortified companion quickly before turning back to Reina. “I… I’m surprised to see you back here so soon.”
Reina’s eyes narrowed with little amusement. “Yes,” she agreed. “I’m quite surprised at that too. Unfortunately, that’s the way things are.” She turned her gaze on the other girl, who even though she looked like she wanted nothing more than to escape right that moment, knew that she couldn’t since Reina had the two of them quite effectively cornered. Chisato’s hands also still held her waist. “And who do we have here? Who’s caught the eye of one of our bravest generals?”
Chisato blushed at the compliment, but that was nothing to the other girl. However, at Chisato’s urging, the other grudgingly stepped with her out into the light. Reina’s eyes widened at identifying Chisato’s choice. “Well,” she stated shortly. “I see Tokunaga’s efforts at repairing Circle-Skull relations must be proceeding quite well.”
Kanon blushed, but at the same time tried to glare back at Reina defiantly. Reina always thought of the girl as one of the most outspoken of the young students who had followed the Circle. Chisato had made a good choice. Still, for some reason, that thought didn’t cheer her any.
“The only reason we still have any problems is because of those like you making fun of our efforts!” the other Matsuura second-year scolded. “As far as I’m concerned, we are all friends now.” She turned back to Chisato, and Reina noticed a light flush grace her cheeks. “And some of us are perhaps even a bit more…” Chisato smiled, and pulled her closer again.
Starting to feel uncomfortable, Reina cleared her throat. “Yeah, well I wish more of your little friends felt the same way,” she said in a disinterested-sounding voice, and looked around as if to see if anyone else was near. However, they were quite alone in the stairwell. “Well, I’m headed back to my room,” she said dismissively, and headed toward the stairs up to the next floor. After glancing back briefly, she added, “Um… carry on…”
However, before she made it to the second step Chisato pulled away from the girl she was with and took a few steps toward Reina. “Reina,” she said again to catch her attention. Reina’s foot stopped on the step. “You really are back here early…” she said hesitantly. “Is everything all right?”
Reina smiled softly, hiding her face in the shadows. “You really are too concerned about others sometimes,” she said gently. “You have a very cute girl in your arms now. You should go to her. Don’t worry about someone usel…” She paused a moment. “…about someone like me.” Troubled by the near slip of her tongue, she started back up the stairs, determined to make herself alone again as quickly as possible.
“But Reina…” Chisato continued. However, Reina was already up the stairs and in the corridor toward her room.
A few minutes later, she lay on her back with limbs splayed out in the big beautiful four-poster bed that used to be Ai’s, was hers, then was both Ai’s and hers before becoming apparently only hers again. She was beginning to wonder if it would only ever be hers anymore.
Somehow she’d not understood what the woman had been trying to tell her until she saw what had become of Erina, of the girl that used to be one of her most trusted friends before becoming quite a capable lover. Before Reina had, she now realized, cast her off as almost nothing more than a sack of garbage. She’d done this with many girls and women before, not having a care in the world for what they might have gone through after, not really figuring they’d go through anything. However, the two examples shown to her tonight shattered such a view of the world.
Could the woman that was as much her counterpart as anyone had been, through both nature and desire, be right? Could there really be something more that she wasn’t seeing? That in all her experiences of being with people whom even she realized were exceptional, she had not once ever made love? Could there really be a meaning to such a concept?
Staring at the canopy of her bed, she thought back, trying to remember the face of each one she’d ever taken. To her shock and newfound horror, she realized there were many she couldn’t. People treated her as a goddess, as a leader not just of a school but of a country, but how could she be qualified to lead in such a way, when she left such a trail of destruction behind her with every one that she’d dared let get close to her?
One of the faces she was thinking of rose more prominently in her thoughts, and the phantom Miyabi inside her head spoke to her with a serious voice. “There will come a time when we three must go away… Our enemy is close to making its move…” That was the phrase that had been bothering her for the past few days, from the night when Ai had come to her to those when she patiently awaited her return. Realizing she was in no condition to lead in whatever might be coming, she found herself remembering those words again. She wished the enemy would go ahead and make its move now, to spare her any more of this anguish.
A knock sounded at her door, though she didn’t take her eyes from the canopy. At the second sound of its rapping, she opened her mouth to say, “Come in,” in a loud enough, if flat, voice. As she heard the door open, she still didn’t look down from the canopy, not really caring who had come to visit her and even just wondering why whoever it was couldn’t just leave her alone.
“Um…” came a small voice, and Reina felt a tiny stirring within her.
Tearing her eyes away from the blank canvas, she rolled her head to the side to see the small girl walking slowly toward her. She’d apparently changed from her seifuku before coming – she was now dressed in sweats similar to Reina – showing that she must have not continued what she was doing as Reina advised her to. Still, for some reason that thought lightened her mood slightly.
“I hope I didn’t ruin your evening too,” Reina said, her voice sullen in her sadness.
Chisato frowned. “What are you talking about?” she asked. The girl was taking in the scene before her, Reina’s even voice combined with her position on the bed as if laying herself vulnerable to anything more the world wanted to throw at her. “I just thought I’d come by before a bit of studying and bed.”
Reina smiled in a way that didn’t reach her eyes, and she rolled her head back. “Is there something you need?” she asked.
“Well…” Chisato said, seeming to be nervous to continue. “Actually, I wondered if there might be anything you need.” Reina imagined the girl taking in her present condition again, and with a cough of laughter sat up.
Looking toward her once more, she said, “You know, you may be the only person that would be truly concerned enough to actually come here and risk talking to me like that.”
“Risk what?” Chisato asked, seeming honestly confused.
Reina smiled at the girl’s remaining innocence, despite the fact that she thought she must have stolen it away from her. “Nothing,” she replied dismissively. Then her mouth turned down in a frown of her own. “But I am a bit disappointed that you didn’t stay with your girl. It’s not good to be neglectful.”
Chisato waved her hand in a dismissal of her own. “Oh it’s nothing like that,” she said. “Actually it was odd. We’d become friends lately, along with the others of her group and Risako, and we’d made plans for her to come over tonight since it apparently can get pretty loud around her dorm and a tough place to study. Somehow, especially after what you’d said earlier… Well, it just happened, and we found that corner. I don’t really know what to think of it really. After you came she said she really had to do some studying now, and decided to go back to her room anyway since she had a feeling staying here any longer would be even more distracting…”
The girl was babbling. Somehow though, Reina didn’t mind, and just smiled as she watched her go on. “I’m sorry,” she said when the girl finally began to trail off. “I didn’t mean to sound reprimanding.”
“Oh it’s okay,” Chisato said, peering into Reina’s face as if still unsure what she’d find in there. “I just wanted you to understand.”
“Thanks,” Reina said, and realized she really meant it.
“Well…” Chisato said, seeming to become uncomfortable again, “I’m sorry for bothering you. I’ll just head back to do my homework…”
When she turned to head back to the door, Reina quickly jumped up from the bed and walked toward her, touching her arm lightly. However, as if feeling even that touch was not appropriate at the moment, she drew back quickly.
Chisato turned back to her, seeming surprised at her movement. “What’s the matter?” she asked, concern seeping into her tone once again.
Reina smiled. “You’re right, I wasn’t all right before.” Chisato raised a worried hand, but Reina brushed it away easily with a shake of her head. “I’ve realized a lot of things about people today… about myself… a lot of which I wasn’t happy to learn. I wasn’t sure if I could deal with it…”
“Oh…” Chisato said, seeming unsure what else to say, but her concerned eyes still searching Reina’s.
“But I think I’ve just realized something else,” Reina continued. Chisato’s eyebrows rose curiously. “I realized I’m going to be all right.”
“That’s… good to hear, I suppose?” Chisato said, though still sounding a bit confused.
“Anyway,” Reina said, “I’ve kept you long enough. You should get back to your homework.”
“Yeah…” Chisato replied. As she turned to leave though, she cast one glance back Reina’s way, as if finding it hard to believe what she was seeing. Reina smiled back, but that only seemed to confuse her more.
A few minutes after the girl left her room, Reina still stood in the middle of the floor looking at the door. She didn’t dare to hope, as she knew she didn’t deserve anything at the time, but after seeing the younger girl just now she recognized what the feeling in her stomach had been. Could this be something like what Ai had tried to tell her about? Whether that was true or not, somehow she did know the truth of what she’d told Chisato – she would be all right.
Suddenly she spun, leaning back to the bedside table to pick up the small key again. She would continue doing her best to right the wrongs she’d caused in the past. She didn’t know if the girl would listen to her, but… she had to try…
This time she didn’t run into anyone in the hallways of the tower, though her eyes lingered an extra moment as she passed Airi’s and Chisato’s room, and she walked through the trees with an extra bounce to her step, as if what she felt inside her was enough to fight back the oppressive darkness threatening to press in from all around.
It was now too late for almost all students to be out, but she still went through the back lounge of House Nakazawa since there were still likely to be no few studying with their friends elsewhere. She smiled as she passed through the Skulls’ lounge, wondering if she’d realized at last what was said to make her and Miyabi so different, and also realizing that it definitely made neither of them less of a Skull. However, she also wondered if she was worthy of it. As part of an answer to that, Ai’s words came back to her and her smile returned.
She scaled the stairs, and when she arrived at the second floor she could almost feel the excitement and anxiety about what she was about to do, just hoping that she could at least have her say. However, she slowed again upon passing room 313, noticing once again the force seeming to tug at her from within.
Her first thought was how strange it was that she should feel something like this just by walking through a hallway, but then she realized that since she was in a completely different frame of mind than she was before, it most definitely was not related to any of her own internal struggles. She also noticed something else different this time. While before there had been something setting off alarms inside her head telling her to stay away from the place, now there was only the seductive feeling, as if something was trying to tell her to come inside.
Despite any new emotional revelations, Reina was still a very physical person. Even though she had been able to suppress her desires for the night, even amazingly when Chisato had come into her room in a situation that otherwise she would have had no qualms about taking advantage of, she still felt unsatisfied. This force that was calling out to her from within the room she passed offered to give her what she needed, if only she would let it. Deciding a bit of a distraction from her mission would not be too amiss, Reina reached for the doorknob.
Surprisingly, it was unlocked, and turned easily. When she pushed the door open she noticed the room within was dark, but she felt the strange sensation even more strongly now that it was no longer blocking her way. Squinting around in an attempt to see, and wondering why the light from the hall wasn’t helping, she pushed the door shut behind her and took another couple steps in.
As she neared what must be the center of the room, she heard the whispers of soft chants that seemed to come from all around her. “Hello?” she asked, looking around as if willing herself to see what was there.
The chants increased in volume slowly, but they were in a language Reina didn’t know. The feeling that something was terribly wrong finally began to override the sensation telling her this was where she ought to be, and she turned in the direction she hoped was back toward the door. However, at that moment light also began to slowly grow around her. As she adjusted, she saw that two hooded figures surrounded her, and it was from them that the chanting came.
Abruptly it stopped, and she heard one of them say, in a low voice she thought she recognized, “So you’re early… but that’s nothing we can’t deal with.”
“Sleep well,” the other said, and before Reina’s mind could leap to recognition, her head blazed in excruciating pain. The last thing she felt apart from the pain was the roughly carpeted floor as it rushed up to meet her.
-
Oh yay! :) Ai realized what she was doing and decided to stop it. That's good to see. And give Reina a life lesson.
Good to see Reina learning her mistakes and making it right, but *gasp* knocked out by JunLin!!!! :frustrated:
What's going to happen?!!
Is JunLin truly their enemies?!!!
-
Will be back. XD
I really enjoyed this chapter. B/C of Reina's little revelation. I'm glad she can realize that it's ok to let your guard down and let ppl get close to you. I'm also REALLY happy that Ai-chan finally stopped cheating on Gaki. Her realization was important too. Thought it was amazing that ManoEri stood up to Reina so forcefully. But it was good for Reina to see how much pain and suffering she caused the poor girl. OMG Chisato~~~ *kyaaaa* Know what? I really want Reina and Chisa to get together, and I mean like in a real relationship. Chisa's already proven how much she really cares for Reina.
O...M...G.... :shocked: JunLin just knocked out Reina!!!!!!! What are those two planning?
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Chapter 8 – Affairs of State
The great door crashed open, causing the very walls to vibrate and shake loose dust that the best efforts had not been able to sweep away up until that point. Ai had barely even gotten to her feet, and cast a frantic glance at the still-reclining forms of Reina and Miyabi before gesturing with a twitch of her head for Risa to follow her. As always when she looked her direction, Reina had caught her eyes and held them for a moment until she could tear them away. Starting toward the door, she noticed Maimi was somehow already ahead of her and halfway there after the young girl that had invited her to such a meeting for the first time.
Wait, where are they? :?
“The Imperial family may have some intelligence in them,” the youngest of the group said in a quiet voice that was somehow times more authoritative than had she shouted, “But these bureaucrats aren’t willing to give up too easily the power they have, however foolishly they utilize it.”
Not entirely surprised at that.
“Why would you think the politicians aren’t letting go of power?” Ai asked.
Man, they (the Imperial family) are actually doing it, aren't they? They're actually trying to take back the power of governance from the elected government?
“They were always mentioning how the Imperial family directed them to do this or that.”
I'm guessing it's probably just done out of deference to them (i.e. to save face/keep the Imperial family from appearing to be powerless).
Airi continued, now looking somewhat thoughtful, but her face quickly turned down in anger. “I still can’t believe China would do such a thing as they have, especially with no response from the rest of the world that didn’t suffer from a devastating storm.”
It is rather odd that there wouldn't be any response, especially when the threat of "who has what types of" and "how many" weapons is of global concern.
they know what they’re dealing with in China, even a newly protectionist and militarized one, but it’s us right now that’s the mystery, and people are always ever more afraid of that which they can’t understand.”
So basically, focus is not being placed on China, because TPTB know what to expect in terms of reactions/politicking and thus they're not bothering to make a scene of it? Instead if dealing with the fact that there's a nation that, under some interpretations, would have basically just declared war, they're choosing to focus on the girls?
Airi’s blazing eyes on hers didn’t let up for an instant. “Well maybe we should show everyone exactly what it is they’re dealing with here, and when they see it’s only a few schoolgirls they’ll laugh and focus once more on a real threat.”
Problem is, people aren't always that smart, which is what makes it frustrating.
“Suzuki-san has become tired and decided to return to her rooms,” Ai informed the assembly. She could tell all the men suddenly relaxed in disappointment.
“Did she give any direction on how to proceed?” the one who had generally been taking the lead asked.
It's little wonder that Airi's pissed off. If they have had to go through all of this for the past while, having to endure being looked to make decision after decision like this when they're still trying to get through high school, to call it ridiculous would be an understatement.
“With all respect, Takahashi-san,” the man continued, “We have been without direction for too long. If Suzuki-sama would give us even the smallest bit of guidance, we would have something to comfort the people with, since they would know she is watching over them.”
/me facepalms.
Oh for fuck's sake.
*MIYABI'S LITTLE SHOW*
Whoa...
:stunned:
Well, SOMEONE had to give these guys a proverbial "smack upside the head" and try to knock some sense into them. Only question now is, will Miyabi's little stunt work...or backfire?
“Ishihara is powerful, and plans to use this opportunity to take control of the country, as you know well,” Miyabi continued.
Obviously they don't know that she can read minds. :lol: Problem is though, does this scare them into rejecting Ishihara's plans to take over, or does it make targets of Miyabi (and maybe the other girls as well) in their eyes?
When they passed a crossing hallway, Miyabi took Reina’s arm and pulled her gently toward the way that would lead out of the building. “Excuse us,” she told Ai and Risa, “But we should return to the tower. I’d like to have another short talk with those men along the way too.”
:dunno:
She cut off as they entered their office, and the two newly-hired assistants looked up from their paperwork at their desks in the front of the room to greet the new arrivals. Ai had their desks placed in such an arrangement to try to prevent any more unexpected visitors from just dropping in, although in one unfortunate case it was already far too late.
Part of being an assistant is often having to be a "roadblock" to unwanted visitors. :yep:
The "unfortunate case" that was mentioned was when Reina visited Aichan that time, isn't it?
Risa had been reluctant at first, wanting to hire permanent students, but Ai convinced her by mentioning how JunJun would be graduating at the end of the year anyway, and whoever they’d hire, it was likely to include at least one seventh year.
I can see Risa's point here. It would be nice to have someone that would be there on a more "long term" basis, rather than having to train another new hire after the year ended and the one assistant left.
Looking at the papers the Chinese girl had apparently been piling up there since the moment she had left, she sighed. Sometimes the girl was all too efficient, it seemed. She had no desire to dive back into the paperwork after the events of the afternoon.
Out of the frying pan, eh? :P
*JUNLIN'S CONCERNS*
Now if these two really are spies for China (as we suspect them to be), then gathering intelligence (in this case on the girls', especially Airi's actions) would be a pretty big part of their mission.
Realizing how lucky she was to have such an amazing partner, she took in how her hair flowed in waves down her neck above a very elegant white dress that fit her form perfectly. It was a form that, at least in Ai’s opinion, was infinitely better than…
Coughing, she started for the door.
...
Ai looked up to see Risa rising from her desk too at her movement.
Ai raised a hand to forestall her though. “Sorry Nii-chan, I have to run a quick errand.
An errand? This came on rather suddenly, didn't it?
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone, but I’ll stop by first.” Risa looked up at her again, and Ai could detect a slight trace of concern in her eyes. There had been many times lately when Ai had “errands” to run that she didn’t fill in the details of. She smiled, trying to ease the girl’s worry, and headed out the door.
Oh geez, she's not going to see Reina, is she? C'mon Aichan, if you're doing this, you know it's not right. :(
She headed out one of the back doorways and up a set of spiral stairs to the third floor, where she opened a heavy door into a hallway. However, in the hall she was surprised to find Airi, Maimi and Chisato talking. Upon hearing the door they turned to her, and Chisato smiled a greeting.
“Back again, huh?” Airi asked, while Maimi stared at her with a more scrutinizing gaze. Her former partner knew her quite well.
If Aichan IS planning on going to see Reina, maybe Maimi can knock some sense into her and tell her to break it off and to NOT mess up what she's got going with Risa. :yep:
Maimi laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see the girl’s intense gaze. “I’m sure you don’t need the warning, but be careful in dealing with her.” Ai noted that the girl did not specify a name of who she might be dealing with. “She can be very devious, despite any good intentions there might be.”
For once, the old mistrust of The Skulls just might come in handy. :sweatdrop:
“Maimi!” Airi gasped, and the taller turned to smile at her girlfriend and pat her hand.
“Oh come on,” she said wryly. “You know I’m never going to get tired of being mean to that girl.”
Nice save. No one other than Aichan and Maimi know to whom the latter was really referring.
Reina leaned casually against one of the bedposts, her slim form covered only by a long black nightie that smoothly accentuated her contours. Ai’s eyes rose from the girl’s pale legs beneath it past her waist, and she soon came to realize the girl didn’t seem to be wearing a bra. She gulped thinking of what else she might not be wearing.
Ocrap. :shocked:
Submitting to temptation as she had done so many times lately
So "many" times??? Oh Aichan...no. :cry:
*RISA GOES HOME*
Dammit, she's such a good, caring GF. Aichan's really messing things up right now.
WTF Chapter 9 as well??? Fuck, that can wait until tomorrow.
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Aww, JFC, don't get upset! :oops: Sorry for updating so fast! Though I kinda just wanted to get this little arc outta the way. :) Take the next chapter easy with its length and all lol. I always try to wait for your great comments before I post a next chapter, though I was a little excited to get this one out. ^^; Thought with your posting of chapter 8 comments it'd be a good opportunity to do replies for it too! If a little late... lol
Chapter 8 comments:
mode: Yes, Reina is really good. XD As for Gaki... well, "If there is love, it's all right!" :lol: In the new chapter that gets wrapped up a bit, but I still won't exactly say things will be "happy" for anyone before too long... cause a lightning strike is about to occur. ;)
ayase: In chapter 10 you should hopefully get more of the fluff you're looking for. :lol: And in the just-posted chapter 9 you'll at least get something else that should ease your mind... haha. Keep the cute comments coming! :D
bkmm: Yeah, I don't think anyone can really blame Ai-chan all too much. :lol: Reina is Reina, after all... Gonna take a bit of a break from this story I think to let everyone catch up - hopefully focus a bit more on BB. :)
Fen: Once again, yeah Reina is the bad influence and guilty pleasure that plagues us all. :lol: Glad you enjoyed the parts about the politicians... I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. :oops: At least I think I'm becoming able to blend it into the story better to where it still focuses more on the girls, and also in a lighter sense of making them just look more silly. :)
Amarghetta: Yes, Miya was a bit scary here (and you may have seen hints so far of her being even quite a bit more scary - we'll see if any of that comes across in chapter 10 *whistles*). As for Reina... I'll let you think as you will by the events of chapter 9. :) As you might be able to tell, I really put a lot of effort into writing her... I suppose that's what comes after all the experience in doing such (though stories like Odyssey 8)).
Maimi_Yajima: You enjoy reading Reina so much, so chapter 9 should be fun for you. :) It's quite a ride, lol. I hope it's not too difficult for you to get through... It should also answer some of your questions about said sankaku kankei. :)
haruka: Hello! Another Gaki fan, eh? Well, you might be a bit happier with the events in chapter 9. ^^; Although, Reina is of course the main focus... As before, the three major characters in this story are Airi, Miyabi, and Reina, and you'll see that a bit more pronounced in the near future...
sbk: Don't be too worried about JunLin. :lol: They may have acted a little frightened about what's going on now toward Ai and Risa, though I'm not sure if it is much more than that "act'. After all, the two of them are largely responsible for the current situation... >.>;; More on that soon ;) beginning with the first strike in chapter 9...
JFC: Hmm, through your comments I get the impression about Miya being mysterious. Yes, she definitely is. Remember her counterpart (enemy) from CoT? And remember exactly how she was perceived? Their powers are not all that dissimilar... Also, JunLin definitely are not there for the work experience. As to what their aims exactly are though...
WTF Chapter 9 as well??? Fuck, that can wait until tomorrow.
Sorry!!!! :gmon tears: <--- cute monkey girl, sooo not me, lol. I'm being mean to my readers. >_< Well, thank you all anyway. ^^;;;
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Oh, you're back already! :w00t:
However, my mind's in no condition to come up with a review this time... I'll go back to lurking mode until your next update. XD
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Aww, JFC, don't get upset!
Wasn't upset at the time...just dead tired. :P
As Reina fussed with her hair in front of the impressive vanity she had obtained with the room – she couldn’t begrudge the amenities of her formerly hated Ivory Tower, that was for sure; the bath was to die for – her thoughts idly wandered to a few nights back, when she had carefully prepared her room, and herself, to continue her seduction of Seishin’s great new leader. There were two leaders of course, but to Reina only the one mattered. Only the one had the power she craved to tap into.
So all this was just to get at Aichan's power? :thumbdown:
Makes you wonder if she had any similarly ulterior motives (that is, other than "for fun") in her other...relationships (e.g. Manoeri).
Perhaps she’d become too attached to the woman. She learned the consequences of that with the Mano girl, how she left when she couldn’t keep up with Reina’s desires, and how afterward Reina didn’t want to see anyone.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...so Reina really had feelings for Manoeri, but broke it off anyway because the latter couldn't "keep up with her" on a physically intimate level?
She had to be more careful here, because the trophy was all the more tempting. She almost shuddered. The things that woman’s powers combined with her own did to her…
It almost sounds like Reina's got an addiction or something. :?
*AICHAN COMES TO REINA*
Oh Aichan, not again! :O
Ai looked at her a long moment before saying quietly again, in what now was a pained voice, “I’m sorry for using you, Reina.”
Reina almost laughed. “Does it look like I care? Have I ever asked for anything else from you? You think too much about my feelings, Mistress Takahashi.”
...
Then her eyes refocused on Reina’s. “Don’t you ever wish there was something more?”
Has Reina ever even considered the possibility that she could have "more"? Has she ever wanted, or thought she could have a relationship that wasn't just about sex? Has she ever thought that she could have what Aichan and Risa have?
“I came to tell you it’s over,” Ai responded firmly.
Aichan's taking a stand, and walking away? :o
“For all the evil… for the horrible things I’ve done, I thought I didn’t deserve to be happy, to be in such a beautiful relationship with such a beautiful person.
Is this part of why Aichan let herself get involved with Reina in this way? She felt unworthy of Risa's love because of what happened and what she allowed herself to become? :cry:
“But I was wrong.”
The woman’s voice came as a gust of wind slamming shut a door. It left no room for argument, and made Reina’s smile immediately vanish. The storm was returning slowly into the other’s eyes.
...
Ai fixed her gaze on Reina again. “The world is not black and white. Within all good, there is evil, and within all evil there is at least a glimmer of good. I may have evil within me, but that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of good, that I don’t deserve good.”
She's realizing that she doesn't have to always punish herself, that she CAN let herself be happy, even if it's just a little.
“You know the last time I was here?” Ai asked. That brought a weak grin to Reina’s face again. As if she could forget… “Afterwards, when I returned to my rooms, Nii-chan presented me with perhaps the most satisfying and delicious dinner I’d ever had, even though she had to warm it up after spending all evening creating it, because I was so late getting in. Afterward we talked as she gave me a massage, thinking I’d need it after working so long…” Pain flashed through the cloud of her face, and those stormy eyes began to moisten, but she went on, “She went out of her way to do what else she could to try and show me her love, and all this without even a thought of sex at the time.” Then her now-blurred eyes refocused on Reina. “But later, when it felt like nothing more than the most natural thing we could have done, we did make love.”
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is a demonstration of the fact that "having sex" does NOT necessarily mean the same thing as "making love". "Sex" is the end goal, and it is also the motivating factor in achieving that end goal. It's raw, and physical, and passionate, and just plain feels good. "Making love", on the other hand, is that, but it's also more. It's not just about being horny and having to satisfy that physical urge, it's also about that part of your heart and soul that you find in the other person, and that part of you that you give in return. It really is an expression of love, because you're not just doing it for yourself, you're doing it for the both of you.
Up until that point, Reina hadn’t even thought of the concept. Sure she’d heard it of course. She knew people supposedly fell in love. She didn’t know why that had anything to do with her, though.
Poor Reina really doesn't have any idea of it, does she? She's never been faced/been given that opportunity, or she's not been able to recognize it when the chance arose.
“If you know what this is like, help me understand. Help me to be able to love.”
To Reina’s deep disappointment though, the girl withdrew her hand from her grip, looking at her sadly. “I can’t,” she said, her head shaking slowly. “You know I can’t. And besides, it’s something you need to discover on your own for it to be true. Even if I was able, I couldn’t just try and make love to you, and make you suddenly understand.”
Sad, but true. Love is not something that can be so easily explained. If it was, then it would lose all of the mystery, and all that makes it worthwhile.
A moment passed, and then the manga Reina had been reading violently flew across the room and crashed into the door, falling neglected to the floor. As Reina’s arm sank back down to the bed, she set her jaw tightly. She didn’t need the woman anyway. She was Reina Tanaka, Master of the Skulls and reluctant god-leader of Japan. She could have whatever and whoever she wanted.
However, right now, what she needed was satisfaction. The blasted woman had teased her, made her desperately wanting more, and then by her words made her want even more, but left without actually doing a single thing for her. She got up from the bed and walked back to her vanity, straightening her hair and wiping her eyes. They didn’t look too bad – whatever the demon had done to her, she’d apparently not let it affect her all that much.
She realized she was still in her sweats and a t-shirt, but decided that she wouldn’t need any more. After all, if things went the way she expected, she wouldn’t be wearing whatever she had on much longer anyway. Snatching something small up from the vanity table, she flipped the lights off and left the room to enter the hall, beginning her journey to her quarry. Normally she would want to have more fun and try to conquer a difficult situation, but not this night. Tonight she just craved the satisfaction, and wanted it in the easiest way possible. To that end, she had an idea of the best place to go.
Oshit...Reina doesn't take rejection well...
:scared:
*REINA-CHISATO TALK*
It's almost sounding like Reina's lost somehow. She's still clinging to the "Skulls" and "what they stood for". When you think about it, it sort of makes sense. Back when it was still The Circle VS The Skulls, Reina knew her role and her purpose. She knew whom she could trust and whom she shouldn't. Now...with the "feud" over, she doesn't see a purpose for herself. She doesn't know what she's supposed to do with her life and abilities.
For the first time since her “election”, the currently recognized Head of House Nakazawa had made an appearance in her dominion.
Damn, forgot that she had been chosen as head of House Nakazawa. Seeing as how Reina probably wasn't a fan of the "houses" when they originally existed in the first place, it's doubtful that she would have actually accepted and stepped into the role. It could be that she's regarding herself as nothing more than just a figurehead here.
“Tanaka-san!” LinLin said, still with the surprise in her voice. Her hands dropped to her waist as whatever she held in them was apparently completely forgotten. Reina wondered idly if it was related to the new work she was doing for Ai and Risa, and then quickly stopped herself from continuing along that line of thought. “What – what are you doing here?”
Linlin? She came to see Linlin? :shocked:
Don't tell me she's going to try and "understand" what Aichan was talking to her about earlier by getting Linlin to tell her about her observations of Aichan and Risa?
As LinLin just continued to stare at her, her smirk wilted a bit. “So…” she continued more seriously, “I thought I’d go up and see if I could find a new young girl to corrupt instead.”
Uh.......oh? :-X
When the room came into view, she saw two beds, one with well-made pink sheets and the other with just the futon covers, looking like it had not been used for ages. Well, Reina supposed it hadn’t. It had been a long time since she actually slept in her assigned dorm room after all.
After taking in the beds, her eyes drifted to the girl who was seated at the desk near the pink-covered bed. She was just now turning to see what the sound was from the door, and for a moment squinted in the dim light of the room outside the pool of her desk lamp as if unable to identify who stood in the doorway. Smiling, this time in anticipation of finally sating her desire, Reina stepped into the room and swung the door shut behind her, her eyes resting on the slim, longhaired girl at the desk, who finally recognized the intruder.
Eyelids shot up, and the girl nearly jumped out of her chair, banging her knee on the desk though appearing not to notice the pain it must have caused. “What are you doing here?!” the girl cried, partly in anger but mostly in what sounded like dread terror.
:stunned: Is it Manoeri? It's Manoeri, isn't it?
“Your room is in the Tower now, Reina,” she said nervously, as if the thought of that place brought up even more unpleasantness. “This is my place. Mine! You hear?”
Reina frowned. “You’re acting awfully strange,” she said, and stood up again. “What’s the matter?” She suddenly began smoothing her voice into honey. “I thought you liked having me around… having me near… having me…” She paused a moment. “…Erina.”
I KNEW IT!!!
:OMG:
*MANOERI RANT*
Well, well, well. I guess it's about time Reina actually faced one of those hearts that she's broken.
When Reina didn’t move, the fear returned to the girl’s eyes and her voice softened many times over in realization that no matter how much she wished it, if Reina didn’t want to leave there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it. That was a fact she knew all too well. “Please…” she implored, “Leave me be?”
Reina only stared. Was this truly what she was like? Was she the true uncaring devil that drove everyone she came into contact with to such a state?
Reina's never had to face these types of consequences before. Before, she likely would have brushed it aside and chalked it all up to being a and following the ways of The Skulls. Problem with that is, it just meant that she was running away from her responsibilities. In refusing to let herself face this, she denied herself the chance to learn from it and grow/mature. She denied herself the chance to go through heartbreak, so that she could learn for herself what it means to love and to be loved.
Taking the rest of the stairs as quietly and stealthily as possible, she attained the second floor to see two small forms standing off in a shadowed corner of the stairwell. They were pressed tightly together, which combined with the soft whimpers and breaths of exertion gave a clear picture to Reina of what they were doing. At first thought, she wasn’t sure who they were, because they seemed too small to be anyone she expected to be here, but as she stepped closer the realization hit her, and she froze. Amid all the thoughts running through her mind at that moment, she didn’t know whether to be proud of the girl for working so fast, or jealous of all things.
After another moment of watching, the act becoming more and more unbearable as it went on, she cleared her throat, and the forms sprang apart. At least, one sprang away. The other remained rather relaxed, but still turned her attention briskly toward Reina.
“Well I must say,” Reina said through a lopsided grin, the best she could manage under the circumstances, “As always, you definitely are doing the Skulls proud.”
“Tanaka-san,” Chisato said in a somewhat hoarse, breathless voice. She glanced at her mortified companion quickly before turning back to Reina. “I… I’m surprised to see you back here so soon.”
Chisato??? :shocked
Chisato blushed at the compliment, but that was nothing to the other girl. However, at Chisato’s urging, the other grudgingly stepped with her out into the light. Reina’s eyes widened at identifying Chisato’s choice. “Well,” she stated shortly. “I see Tokunaga’s efforts at repairing Circle-Skull relations must be proceeding quite well.”
Kanon blushed, but at the same time tried to glare back at Reina defiantly. Reina always thought of the girl as one of the most outspoken of the young students who had followed the Circle. Chisato had made a good choice. Still, for some reason, that thought didn’t cheer her any.
“The only reason we still have any problems is because of those like you making fun of our efforts!” the other Matsuura second-year scolded. “As far as I’m concerned, we are all friends now.” She turned back to Chisato, and Reina noticed a light flush grace her cheeks. “And some of us are perhaps even a bit more…” Chisato smiled, and pulled her closer again.
Well, I guess Chisato's effectively "over" Reina now. :P
Kanon's got a point though. Like I said earlier, it seemed as if Reina was still clinging to the old Circle-Skull rivalry, and still saw that proverbial line between people. Problem is, they have no need for it now, and as a matter of fact, to continue to stick to that way of thinking is actually counterproductive to what they're all trying to accomplish now. Past rivalries no longer have a place at the school, and it appears that Reina's finally starting to see that.
Chisato pulled away from the girl she was with and took a few steps toward Reina. “Reina,” she said again to catch her attention. Reina’s foot stopped on the step. “You really are back here early…” she said hesitantly. “Is everything all right?”
Reina smiled softly, hiding her face in the shadows. “You really are too concerned about others sometimes,” she said gently. “You have a very cute girl in your arms now. You should go to her. Don’t worry about someone usel…” She paused a moment. “…about someone like me.” Troubled by the near slip of her tongue, she started back up the stairs, determined to make herself alone again as quickly as possible.
Now Reina's beating herself up, much like how Aichan was doing so before. :(
*REINA'S SELF-REFLECTION*
Things look a lot different when you look back, don't they? :'(
One of the faces she was thinking of rose more prominently in her thoughts, and the phantom Miyabi inside her head spoke to her with a serious voice. “There will come a time when we three must go away… Our enemy is close to making its move…” That was the phrase that had been bothering her for the past few days
When that time comes, what will Reina do?
*REINA-CHISATO TALK PART 2*
Chisato's probably the only one who's been there for Reina without any hidden agenda or goal. She's been genuinely concerned for Reina, something which the latter perhaps thought wasn't possible for someone that's done what she's done. The fact though, that Chisato's still here just goes to show that Aichan WAS right. Even with all the bad she's left behind her, there's still some good in Reina. If there wasn't, Chisato wouldn't be here all concerned about her. To know that there IS someone who doesn't see her as completely useless...it gives her hope. Hope that maybe one day, she'll be able to find and feel what she's been missing in her life.
Suddenly she spun, leaning back to the bedside table to pick up the small key again. She would continue doing her best to right the wrongs she’d caused in the past. She didn’t know if the girl would listen to her, but… she had to try…
What the...don't tell me...
She's going to try set things right with Manoeri?
She scaled the stairs, and when she arrived at the second floor she could almost feel the excitement and anxiety about what she was about to do, just hoping that she could at least have her say. However, she slowed again upon passing room 313, noticing once again the force seeming to tug at her from within.
Her first thought was how strange it was that she should feel something like this just by walking through a hallway, but then she realized that since she was in a completely different frame of mind than she was before, it most definitely was not related to any of her own internal struggles. She also noticed something else different this time. While before there had been something setting off alarms inside her head telling her to stay away from the place, now there was only the seductive feeling, as if something was trying to tell her to come inside.
Okay, just who's in this room?
As she neared what must be the center of the room, she heard the whispers of soft chants that seemed to come from all around her. “Hello?” she asked, looking around as if willing herself to see what was there.
The chants increased in volume slowly, but they were in a language Reina didn’t know.
Uh oh...
The feeling that something was terribly wrong finally began to override the sensation telling her this was where she ought to be, and she turned in the direction she hoped was back toward the door. However, at that moment light also began to slowly grow around her. As she adjusted, she saw that two hooded figures surrounded her, and it was from them that the chanting came.
Abruptly it stopped, and she heard one of them say, in a low voice she thought she recognized, “So you’re early… but that’s nothing we can’t deal with.”
“Sleep well,” the other said, and before Reina’s mind could leap to recognition, her head blazed in excruciating pain. The last thing she felt apart from the pain was the roughly carpeted floor as it rushed up to meet her.
OSNAP!!! JUNLIN GOT REINA!!!
:mon wtf:
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has been an excellent chapter.
but my comment is also pending... :twothumbs XD
Sumimasen...
the good thing here ... is that only OnE chapter that I have pending ... :lol: nE? :lol: :P
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The chapter was serious.
A chapter exclusively for Tanaka is a nice point, is a character... that I do not know much of their thoughts and feelings.
The part of Erina was strange for me.
finally ... Erina was not afraid of Tanaka. I think Tanaka ... their actions and behavior ... to she... are showing a lesson.
Tanaka submerge... in this lesson by Ai-chan.
This is a new reflection in her new life. Takahashi put a stop to Tanaka.
but ...
Tanaka did not even learn what it means to love.
she wants to know.
Takahashi put a stop to Tanaka.
but ...
Tanaka did not even learn what it means to love.
but she wants to know What is the love.
Chisato was friendly, kind and showed concern for Tanaka.
Chisato believes in Tanaka and see the inside of Tanaka.
I believe that Chisato is left to carry by her emotions, believing in someone. I understand this part, the believe in someone, have faith in someone, even though others say he or she is bad for to do things.
Niigaki when she finds out what happened between Takahashi and Tanaka.
I hope to see her reaction.
it does not matter right?
despite the fact that all these people see ... defects or see bad things and criticize this person, you believe in what your heart tells. truth?
is always better to hear the heart that to a person.
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Again, it's late... Maybe I'll do comments later like I did with chapter 8's. But... you're just happy to see an update, right? I hope. ^^; As always, sorry it's been so long. I guess this is too epic for me. XD Still, it's time for the next chapter in the saga... enjoy...
Chapter 10 - The Shield
When her head exploded with the pain felt by another, Miyabi jolted up in a cold sweat in her extravagant bed and a room that traditionally belonged to the head of House Goto, and most recently to a girl who had died. Having not really had an opportunity to move out properly a few of that girl’s things were even still around, and Miyabi felt uncomfortable about moving them around.
As her chest heaved deeply in her shock, she noticed the girl beside her wake as well, and Risako sat up groggily, but worriedly, to encircle her arm with her own comfortingly. “What’s wrong?” her young girlfriend asked. “Did you have another nightmare?”
It was a reasonable question. Both of them had been having nightmares ever since the bloody battles they were involved in – Miyabi having even been tortured for a time – a fact they’d quickly noticed about each other when they started sleeping together. Miyabi felt strange thinking about it in that way though, since it was much more innocent than what she normally thought of when hearing that phrase, especially from those like Reina or Fujimoto whom she was used to being around. Still, it was a true description of the situation, but that topic was rather far from her mind at the moment.
“No…” Miyabi responded, trying to sort through the jumble that was now ever-present in her head. She couldn’t find what she was looking for, though she had a chilling feeling that it wasn’t because she was having difficulty with it… as much as that what she was looking for just wasn’t there. “It was… It was Reina. Something’s happened.”
She’d feared something like this for a while; the only problem was, it was not like most things that she knew directly from some vision or peek into another’s mind, but more a pall hanging over everything she saw, something that was there but wasn’t, just like what she was feeling when trying to locate Reina right now.
“Oh…” Risako said, her face falling slightly, and Miyabi noticed the arms relax around her own. The girl was a bit touchy about the subject of Reina ever since she’d learned of Miyabi’s history with her, but now was not the time.
Miyabi looked over to her, seeing that Risako was trying to think of something else to say but apparently having a difficult time with it, and so continued herself. “It wasn’t a nightmare or a dream, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said, and Risako’s eyes rose again.
“I suppose you’re right,” Risako said. “And if it was, at least it must not have been a good one.” Miyabi might have burst out laughing at the comment if Risako didn’t look so serious while saying it… and if she hadn’t just seen the vision she had.
“That’s for sure,” Miyabi said, looking past Risako at nothing in the darkness beyond her again. “It just came to me all of a sudden. It looked like there was a dark room… and then just pain…”
Risako now slid a hand over to her other shoulder and embraced her tenderly. “Shh…” she comforted, “It probably was just a nightmare after all. It’s nothing to worry about. Reina can take care of herself, remember.”
Miyabi glanced into her face again and sighed, raising a hand to brush sleep-disheveled hair back from her forehead. “Maybe you’re right,” she said, not believing it one bit. She knew what she saw, but as with many things lately, she knew no one else was likely to understand it, and considering it involved Reina, carrying the subject on further would likely only bother Risako more. “It was probably a nightmare. Sorry to wake you; I’ll try to get back to sleep.” There was nothing she could do about it now anyway, since she really had nothing more to go on than a dark room, which could have been anywhere at this hour.
Risako smiled, obviously relieved that Miyabi wasn’t going to say any more. “That’s right. Stop being so stubborn for once and listen to me. I do know what I’m talking about, after all.”
That made Miyabi smile too, and she lifted her hand again to this time brush some of Risako’s hair behind an ear. “Yes,” she smirked. “I suppose you do.”
Risako pouted as if thinking she was being made fun of. “You’re so mean.”
“That’s right,” Miyabi replied, still with her smile. “I am. But you still love me.”
That caused the other to blush lightly, and the two girls lay back once again against their pillows, but this time Risako hugged Miyabi’s back tightly, spooning up somewhat against her. Her hand rose to brush gently against Miyabi’s cheek, and she spoke up again in a soft voice, “I worry a lot of the time what finds its way into that head of yours. Ordering around people from the government is one thing, but if it’s going to give you more nightmares too…”
Miyabi reached up to take the girl’s wandering hand, pulling it down to her chest and holding it in her own, stroking it tenderly. “I’m all right, Rii-chan,” she assured her girlfriend. “Things happen, but I’m used to it and in control of it, remember?” In response, Risako just snuggled tighter up to her.
As they drifted off to sleep again, Miyabi’s mind replayed the scene that woke her up. If Reina really was in trouble, then it was the first shot in what she feared for a while had been coming. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but she knew some possibilities of what might happen and what might be able to be done about it. That was something to begin worrying about tomorrow though.
Feeling sleep taking her quickly as she lay in the pleasant warmth of the other girl’s arms, she projected a final thought out into the void of consciousness where dwelt the world’s humanity, not knowing if its intended recipient could hear it or not. Reina… wherever you are… stay strong.
…
The next day started similarly to most of her others recently: while she stayed in bed, Risako got up and went to class, and eventually she rolled out herself as well. She had thought about actually getting up with Risako earlier to try to get her started on the path she knew the girl needed to take, but decided to leave that until later in the day, partly because she wanted the day to herself in order to begin setting her own affairs in order.
Even so, that involved leaving the tower shortly before lunchtime to make her way to the crowded classroom buildings, where she was as usual greeted by the stares of the other students, not least of which because instead of seifuku she wore only tight cut-off denim shorts and a t-shirt with the English words “Cherry Stick” printed on it. She was asked by a few brave girls if she was not cold, as the days were rapidly shortening into winter, but she only smiled and walked on, further promoting, she imagined, the mystique surrounding her and the other tower residents.
It didn’t take her long to find the girl she was seeking, who sat in a small lounge situated near a group of teachers’ offices where Miyabi assumed she could get help when she needed it. She smirked slightly at noticing the girl had also apparently finally given up going to classes. That was good; between her powers and her own unrelated abilities she was likely far more advanced than her classes to begin with, and also, it wasn’t like it was going to matter before long anyway.
“Miss Suzuki?” she asked, in a low, authoritative-sounding voice. “I was just looking over that paper you gave me, and I must be honest, you are the dumbest girl I’ve ever seen at this school…”
Airi’s head popped up, eyes wide, and she started crying, “What are you saying…?!” before realizing it was Miyabi who stood in front of her. Then her lips turned down into a cute scowl. “You’re so mean…”
“Why do people keep telling me that…?” Miyabi wondered aloud, looking plaintively up to the ceiling.
“Because it’s true?” Airi replied, and bent back to her paper. “Anyway, can you just leave me alone? I’m trying to work here. There are some students here who actually care about learning things.”
Miyabi rolled her eyes. “Haven’t we been through this?” she asked. “Or do you not remember broken walls and freaked out students?” She stepped forward and reached for Airi’s book, slamming it shut in her lap and making the younger girl jump slightly. “You already know so much more than these books could ever teach you.”
“One can always learn something more,” Airi replied firmly, and opened her book up again.
“That’s true,” Miyabi agreed, “But this stuff is too basic for you. You want to study science? You can create heat or cold with just your thoughts. You can funnel the Sun’s energy through yourself. Heck, I imagine you can alter physics to do your bidding or summon in beings from another dimension. Why do you think scientists do what they do?
“You want to study history. In that head of yours is already the complete history carried by your ancestors for millennia, and in a firsthand fashion unlike all these scholars who are trying to dig up whatever clues they can find of that stuff today. You want to study language, but you already speak in at least several including honorific that isn’t spoken by any others than the Imperial family.
“And beyond all that, you know the strongest evidence? You know me; I’m a rebel. I’m a Skull. Even before all this happened I never studied. However… think about all the things I’ve just been saying. Would a sixteen-year-old outcast ever normally talk like that?”
Airi had looked back up at her when she arrived at just her second sentence, and she’d had the girl’s attention for the rest of the time. However, upon finishing Airi only fell into a sad look. “I just want to be as normal as I can…” she said.
Then Miyabi stepped up to her again and knelt down, resting her hands on the girl’s knees. Her gaze, however, was very strong, and she imagined Airi saw in it a glimpse of the depth caused by everything she could see within her mind.
“Airin, listen to me very carefully,” she said. “There are things coming – very bad things – which are far beyond what’s happened before and could possibly be prepared for. You know I love you—” Airi’s face clouded a bit at this, but Miyabi pressed on as she was trying to make a stronger point. “I wish you could have at least that bit of normalcy, but we’re destined to live very unnatural lives. I really think that the sooner you accept that, the happier you’ll be.”
This time Airi just stared into her eyes, not saying a word until she reached a hand to cup Miyabi’s cheek. Miyabi felt an urge to recoil at the soft touch, but held her place.
“What do you see in that mind of yours?” Airi said in a faraway voice, looking into her eyes as if she could glean the secrets of the universe from them. Miyabi thought the girl knew plenty of them already herself.
They heard a cough from down the hall, and turned to see Maimi with her hand in front of her mouth looking carefully at them. Miyabi recognized the look in her eyes, the look that was directed only at her. It was the same look she’d shown when torturing her what seemed like so long ago, yet not long enough.
“Um… Excuse me…” the older girl said. “What exactly are you doing with my girlfriend? And in the middle of the hall…”
Miyabi glanced up at Airi to see the girl blink down at her before noticing her hands on her knees and her own still at Miyabi’s cheek. Airi jerked her hand back quickly and almost threw her books aside before standing up, Miyabi kneeling fully to the floor as she did.
“Maimi!” Airi exclaimed, rather exasperatedly. “It’s not what it looks like. We were just…”
“I was just trying to explain to her honestly what you and I both know,” Miyabi said as she rose to her feet. “However much she… or the rest of us… don’t want to accept what we are, we need to, because whether we like it or not people are counting on us, and we need to use everything we have to uphold that trust.”
Maimi continued staring at her darkly as she held an arm out for Airi to cuddle into her side, before she too turned to look back at Miyabi. “I don’t know what all of you are doing in this… righteous war of yours… but what I do know is the history you and Airi have.”
“Maimi…” Airi crooned, hugging her closer, but the girl didn’t seem to pay attention.
Pulling Airi along with her, she walked closer to Miyabi until she was just a pace away, and the two shared a hard gaze. “If I ever see you messing with her again, I’ll kill you.”
The temperature of the hallway seemed to drop as the girl related her solemn threat, but Miyabi didn’t even shiver. Instead, she looked down into Airi’s eyes, which reflected her feeling of helplessness at the current situation.
“A way has come to me to make things easier on us in the trials to come,” she told the young girl, and Airi looked back at her in curious attention once again. “I won’t have another chance to show you, so if you’d come with me today we can both prepare as well as we’re able. If I wasn’t too late, I could have…” She looked away as memories of the dream-that-wasn’t-a-dream that caused her to wake late the previous night flashed through her mind again.
“She won’t be going anywhere with you today, Natsuyaki,” she heard Maimi say firmly, and she looked back to see the girl still giving her that dark look.
Airi glanced up into her girlfriend’s eyes before looking back resignedly to Miyabi’s and sighing softly. “I’m sorry, Miya,” she said, hugging Maimi closer. “I need to stay with Maimi today, and show her that she’s the one who’s special to me.”
Miyabi started to feel frustrated, and looked hard at the two girls. “Fine, both of you come then. But I need you to do it. I don’t want to imagine what would happen to you if… if…” As her voice faded away, her eyes did too as she began falling into visions of other places once again.
“Maimi…” she heard Airi plead, and after she blinked her present world returned to her, and she saw Maimi still glaring at her, though with a look of mixed emotions it now seemed, and Airi looking up into her face until apparently satisfied with what she saw and she turned back to Miyabi.
“What is it that you want me to do?” she asked, her voice now exuding resolve.
Miyabi took a deep breath. She didn’t think the girl was going to like this, not to mention her valiant protector. “We need…” she began uncertainly, “We need to get a tattoo…”
As she thought, the young girl’s eyes widened, and Maimi visibly clutched her tighter to her. “A tattoo?” Airi asked blankly. “But… I’m not even old enough to get one yet…”
Miyabi raised an eyebrow at her. “At your normal age, that would be true. But what’s within you now is far more ancient than anything else living today. Also,” she said in a more casual tone, “After seeing you in papers around the country, I don’t think there’s anyone who would deny you anything you asked for…”
The girl looked up at Maimi again, though the older girl still only had eyes for Miyabi. “It still doesn’t feel right…” Airi said. “What… what do you think, Maimi?”
The girl was silent a moment before replying carefully and flatly while still looking at Miyabi, “I think you shouldn’t be made to do anything you don’t want to.”
Miyabi looked down hard into Airi’s eyes now, and without moving her lips told the girl from within her mind, “I’m not trying to make you do this. You know that. I’m just trying to help you. I don’t want you to suffer.”
Airi stared placidly back at her for a moment as if considering the intrusion inside her head, before Miyabi heard a voice inside her own, much to her surprise. “Yes, I know,” the voice said, and Miyabi knew it to be Airi’s, though she couldn’t imagine how the girl was communicating back to her like this. “But I have to consider Maimi too. And it’s also true, getting a tattoo just doesn’t feel right. Whatever’s within me, I know I’m too young for a step like that. Besides,” she continued in that telepathic voice, and she smiled. “I’ll be all right.”
“None of us will,” Miyabi said out loud, but Airi’s smile didn’t wane. Maimi looked between the two of them with slight confusion for a moment before narrowing her eyes and frowning at Miyabi again.
“I’m sorry Miya,” Airi said tenderly, her smile still shining. “I really am.” She looked up at Maimi. “Come on, Maimi-chan. Let’s go~” And she turned, pulling the girl around with her as she started to walk back down the hall. Maimi spared a cautious glance back at Miyabi before turning with the girl on her arm and leaning down to whisper quietly with her.
Miyabi stared after the two, her face blank. She could have looked into their minds to find out what they were saying of course, but somehow that didn’t feel right to her at the moment. “I’ll be all right…” the girl had said, and somehow she got a sense of the indomitable will behind it. The girl really believed it would be all right. But she hadn’t seen what she saw…
Well, she thought as she spun to stride down the hall the other way, ignoring students she passed who gasped at recognizing who she was and a few that even tried to greet her with the utmost respect. Whatever the younger girl was thinking, she was going to do what she knew she needed to.
…
She’d stolen a car from the lot before along with the other Skulls, of course, but it was a lot easier now that she could activate it with a thread of her power. She didn’t have a license, per se, but she’d still had enough experience driving that going into town was not a problem for her, even without the skills she could just glean from others’ minds if she needed to.
Even though she also was too young to get a tattoo, she knew exactly where to find the place, and when she arrived she knocked on the door that said the shop was closed for repair after the flooding. No one answered, and she knocked again, this time imprinting a small command into the mind of the man she knew dwelt within.
When he opened the door he peeked out at her and took in her look, likely thinking her a teenage hooker in her too-short shorts and red leather jacket which she’d picked up before leaving. “What do you want? We’re closed. Everyone’s closed around here on account of rebuilding.”
“I need a tattoo,” she said simply, and he appraised her again.
“You look kinda young,” he replied. As he revealed more of himself she noticed he had tattoos likely covering his body from the sides of his neck down. “I don’t break the underage statutes.”
“I’m an exception,” she said, and she pushed at the door, swinging it back and at the same time shoving him behind it as well to where he nearly stumbled back into his room.
His eyes widened before narrowing quickly, and he began creeping stealthily toward a desk off to the side of the room. “What are you? Some kind of Yakuza? I warn you… I have a rifle I can get to before you could blink. Plus I pay protection. You don’t wanna mess with me.”
Miyabi ignored what the man said and produced a scroll from within her pocket, letting it drop to show him. “I want a tattoo of this character. On… my upper left arm, I suppose.”
The man, taken aback a bit at her attitude, stared a moment before squinting at the paper in the dim light of some candles around the room. Apparently the electricity hadn’t been fixed around here yet. Or perhaps this guy just didn’t pay his bills.
“…I don’t recognize that,” he said finally, and Miyabi could see a spark of oily curiosity in his face. “Is it an original manyogana?”
“Oh, it’s older than that,” Miyabi replied, donning a patient smile. “So can you do it?”
The man finally seemed to lose interest in the desk, and took a couple steps toward her again, eyes still fixed on the parchment. “What? You tellin’ me it’s some kinda Chinese? Don’t get too many requests for artifacts like that. Usually people just want ‘love’, or ‘peace’, you know, the usual shit.” His eyes flickered over to her face, and he seemed to re-evaluate her. “You do know, don’t ya,” he said, his tone not indicating a question.
“It’s something like that,” she said, still smiling. The man was starting to bore her. She didn’t like playing with people’s minds to get them to do what she wanted, because it felt all too close to what had led Shimizu down the dark path she’d followed, but sometimes it turned out to be necessary…
“Okay then,” he said finally. “Don’t get your feathers in a ruff. But I’ll have to study the design a bit before I’ll be able to give it to ya. Do ya mind if I…?” He gestured to the paper. She nodded, thankful she didn’t have to resort to the next step, and handed it over to him. He took it, treating it carefully as he took it over to the desk to examine the pattern. Miyabi smiled. She knew she’d chosen the right shop.
Two or three hours later, the man wiped at his tools after dabbing the last of the blood off Miyabi’s arm. Miyabi inspected his work. It had been painful as she expected, but she’d experienced far worse, and she knew, even with its aid, she would again. The man had done a superb job; it was even calligraphied precisely and perfectly.
“I don’t imagine you’d rethink telling me what that means, would ya?” he asked, pointing the sharp tool he was cleaning toward her arm again.
Miyabi breathed heavily. Well, at least it was done. She might be able to survive now at least… And perhaps, even with her tardiness and Airi’s reluctance, she could still even help the others. “It’s a talisman of protection,” she told him. That was essentially true.
“A talisman, eh?” he asked. “May I ask what you might need such protection from?” After the question he immediately shook his head. “Forget it. The less I know about you Yakuza ilk, the better. Still, I’m surprised to see a young girl like yourself involved with it.”
Miyabi rose, tapping at her new mark lightly and wincing at the sting it caused. It was probably best to let the man think she was in the Yakuza. She was half-way surprised he didn’t know her as it was. He must not normally keep up with such things. Though of course, most of the headlines were about Airi in any case…
“Thank you for your service,” she said with a slight bow, and pulled out some money from her jacket to hand to him. He stared down at it. Yet one more thing to convince him that perhaps she was just an unusual Yakuza.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, and he almost sounded grateful. “You be careful, all right? It’s bad stuff out there these days. Bad stuff…” Then, as he went back to taking care of his shop, she slipped quietly out the door.
…
When she arrived back at Seishin the sun was setting into dusk. She took care to leave the car where she’d gotten it – she wasn’t a petty thief after all – and walked back onto the campus where some straggling students were still heading back to their houses from dinner. She didn’t stray as she headed directly toward her goal, where conveniently everyone she was looking for happened to be gathered. As she approached the Headmaster’s Hall, with its bright star shining out into the heart of campus, she stared up thoughtfully into the light.
She passed through the ancient halls, including the ones she’d just been a part in destroying not long ago, until she came to the main office. She knocked, but didn’t want for the “Come in” before pushing the austere ebony door and entering to find two girls seated in chairs before a desk, behind which sat a woman whose power over the school was second only to the power carried within her.
“Natsuyaki-san!” Ai-chan said warmly as she rose from behind her desk. Despite the girl only using a formal greeting upon first meeting, she still felt a bit intimidated while standing in this certain room.
“Miya!” Risako cried from her seat in front of the desk, and rose to run over and hug her. “I was worried about you… Where have you been all day?”
“I’ve had things to do,” Miyabi said, patting the younger’s head. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“Maybe you did…” Risako said shyly. “But you know I worry.”
“I know,” Miyabi replied, smiling, and ruffled her girlfriend’s wavy hair. Risako just giggled and leaned in to kiss her.
However, it wasn’t long before they broke apart at a low throat clearing from elsewhere in the room, and Risako glanced timidly toward Ai before pulling Miyabi back toward her chair, gesturing her to sit before plopping into her lap.
Ai smiled down at the two of them, if a bit sadly Miyabi thought, and took her own seat again. “I have to admit Rii-chan wasn’t the only one worried about you,” she said. “When she said you were missing, along with what Chisa here had to say as well, I can’t deny we were all a bit troubled.”
“Oh?” Miyabi said, quirking an eyebrow and glancing over at Chisato, who had taken the other chair in front of Ai’s desk. “What’s wrong, Chisa?” She of course knew perfectly well what the other young girl’s issue was.
“Well…” Chisato began, “Like I was telling Takahashi-san, I haven’t seen Reina since last night. I even checked by her room a couple times, but it looked like she hadn’t even slept there.”
“You do know she often doesn’t sleep there, right?” Miyabi asked calmly, and Chisato’s face darkened slightly.
“Yes…” she responded. “I know… But it was just…” She now glanced between Ai and the other two, desperation sweeping across her face. “Last night things were different, and… and I just don’t think she would just disappear like that today. That’s all.”
Miyabi let the girl push her case for a long moment before turning to Ai, who caught her eyes and realized her attention. While Risako played with the buttons of her jacket, her shoulder uncomfortably pressed down against Miyabi’s still-tender left, Miyabi said to the Headmistress, “Surely you know things are happening now. It started with the missile sent over here, and then with the Emperor’s delegation. Our peaceful time here is coming to an end. Soon… Soon you will have to take up the sword.”
The astute and quite intelligent girl gazed evenly back at her as she spoke, though by a slight clenching of the jaw Miyabi knew she had noticed how she had said “you”, and not “we”.
“I can’t claim to know everything that you do, Natsuyaki-sama,” she inflected purposely. “You’re right that strange things have been happening though. Do you think there’s anything amiss with Reina being gone, as our friend is so concerned about?” At mention of the brazen Skull leader’s name, Miyabi felt a conflagration of carefully suppressed emotion burst from within the girl, and she knew she was of a mixed mind concerning her.
“I wouldn’t worry,” she replied, the corners of her lips curling into a gentle smile. Nudging Risako slightly, she got up from the chair after the girl slid off her lap. She held Ai’s gaze for a moment before turning the smile over to Chisato, and then finally to Risako, who peered at her suspiciously. “The time for courage has not yet come. However, we must all be prepared for when it does.”
She met the eyes of each girl again until she knew they understood her, Ai with her stolid resolve through experience, Chisato with her youthful integrity, and Risako with her love, before taking Risako’s hand and walking slowly with her toward the door, the girl continuing that suspicious scrutiny the entire way.
“Miyabi,” Ai called from behind her, and she halted a few paces from the door. “Everybody is anointing Airi as the one to lead us through whatever it is we’re arriving at, but I really wonder if we’re all following the right one,” she pondered, somewhat vaguely.
Miyabi continued smiling, but now bowed her head slightly. “As I’ve told you all before, I’m no leader, Headmistress,” she replied. “All I’m able to do is see through what’s hidden. Like Goto before me.” Like Tsukuyomi's daughter before me, she corrected silently to herself.
…
“Are you always going to be so mysterious like this?” Risako asked as she held onto Miyabi’s arm while they walked the silent path through the woods to the tower. “Not that I mind a bit of it, but it always seems like you’re hiding something from me. Or maybe I’m just expecting too much out of whatever kind of relationship we have…”
Miyabi stopped, turning to the girl in the darkness of early night and holding her shoulders. “You’re not expecting too much,” she said. “You have a right to everything that’s me, as much as I have a right to it myself. I love you…” she said, and she noticed moisture in the other girl’s eyes glinting in the starlight. “There are… just many things that I don’t understand myself. I do what I feel is best, but I don’t know if I truly understand any of these things that come to me.”
“You could tell me…” Risako said earnestly. “I could help you. Maybe together we could understand them. Maybe… maybe Airin or someone could even help too.”
Miyabi stared into the girl’s eyes which she could barely see with her own, feeling as if she might tear up herself knowing how painful it must be for the girl to make that offer. She shook her head. “No… As much as I’d like it if you could help, I know… I know it wouldn’t do any good. It’s my burden to bear, and mine alone.”
“But you’re not alone…” Risako said in a meek voice.
Miyabi, not daring to respond any further, stared hard into the girl’s shadowed face before pulling her tightly to herself and kissing her forcefully, trying to let the girl know in her actions how much she appreciated what she meant to her. After a few minutes, the two pulled back, although remaining still in each other’s arms.
Then, as Miyabi looked into the other’s face once again, she stepped back fully, sliding her jacket off to a questioning murmur from Risako before taking the sleeve of her left arm and pulling it up. As if by providence, the trees blew in the wind and the sky cleared suddenly for the moon to shine its light down to illuminate the character Miyabi had engraved into her skin.
“Miya…!” Risako gasped. “You got a tattoo!” She reached a hand out to delicately touch at it as if to make sure it was real, then looked back up into Miyabi’s face. “Is that what you did today?”
Miyabi nodded. “It’s not a normal tattoo. It will…” She took a breath. “It will allow me to bear what’s coming next long enough to where… to where I might be able to get back to you.”
Risako’s face became stricken. “Don’t start with that again! You’re not going anywhere! Nowhere, I tell you!” She leaned forward to hug Miyabi tightly to her. “I can’t lose you…” she sobbed into her chest. “Not when I finally have someone… when I’ve finally got you…”
Miyabi patted her girlfriend’s back, stroking her hair and comforting her before pulling back to look into her face. “You’re not going to lose me, okay?”
“That’s right,” Risako said firmly. “Now stop with all that other nonsense.”
“But…” Miyabi continued, and Risako arched a warning eyebrow at her. “You haven’t had me yet…”
Risako frowned at her in confusion, before what Miyabi just said dawned on her, and then she blushed. “Well that’s not what I mean…”
“But it is what I mean,” Miyabi said, and she laid a finger beneath Risako’s chin to lift her face up toward her own. “I want you to have me that way. I want to have you that way.”
Risako continued blushing, but held her gaze as if searching for something in it. “I think I finally realize that you really do love me…” she said in a small voice. “And in that case, I think… I know… I am ready for you.”
Miyabi smiled softly, her hand still beneath the other’s chin. “Tonight,” she said. “When we get back to our room. I have something I need to do first though, so wait for me there?”
“Okay,” Risako said, and her smile expressed a happiness Miyabi thought she’d never seen before with all the pain and hurt the girl had been through. “I’ll be waiting for you. Don’t be late, okay?”
“Okay,” Miyabi said, and she slid her finger out from uner her chin to tap it against her nose, which Risako scrunched cutely. “See you soon.” And with that, she let go of the girl and began heading toward a different goal, glancing back once to see Risako start walking slowly down the path as if light as a feather. She almost giggled. She was happy she knew just how great a girlfriend she had.
As she continued on her new path, she slid her jacket back on at what seemed somehow a sudden cold, and huddled beneath it. However, she didn’t know if it was just the air, or maybe also the visions that were constantly trying to press in on her mind.
The first sight of her goal came as she glanced through the trees to her left, the stark ancient building rising up into the night, and she knew there was a way through those trees she could take, but decided against it tonight. Instead, she turned east at the fork in the path to curve around toward its main entrance, and shielded her eyes from the lighted front lounge windows that stared out into the darkness.
Upon entering, there were quite a few students relaxing or studying, as was typical for this hour, but she ghosted through them, shrouded perhaps by the moon’s shadowed cloak, until she reached a stairwell. She glanced up the well-lit shaft, wondering at the things that lately seemed to motivate her.
It was perfectly true what she explained to Risako about not really understanding all these things that came to her, and this was one of those mysteries. While walking back from the Headmaster’s Hall she had developed a feeling of something trying to point her toward a certain place, though she didn’t know what. She didn’t know if it was related to her visions, although she thought they too shouted at her to take this given path. Now that she was here, and she looked up the stairs within House Nakazawa, she somehow knew what she was being led to.
Somewhere up there was a dark room. And somewhere up there was pain.
There was nothing in anything her mind could find reaching out across time and space telling her what she would face, even though she thought there should be, but she knew just as well that this was where she needed to be. Perhaps she could even help Reina and stop this all before it even started.
As she took the first step, she knew that she would not.
She reached the third floor, and as if guided by spirits, opened the door to the hall. Walking into it, it seemed just as normal as any other. However, just a bit further along was something that called to her. Soon she stood before the door of room 313, and she reached for the knob. It swung open without protest, and she peered into the darkness within. After she stepped inside, the door shut by itself behind her to leave her in total darkness. However, even in total darkness she should have been able to tell if someone was there. This time, she couldn’t.
As her senses adjusted, she heard low chanting coming from all around her. “To those most ancient we make our plea- From this being compel all providence flee-” Those words were repeated, as well as other similar phrases. Miyabi wasn’t certain, as her now-divine mind processed it all the same, but it seemed to be in a language unlike any she’d ever heard.
The chanting grew in intensity, and soon a soft glow of light became apparent as well. She braced herself, but found that she didn’t have the first clue what she could do. With the light, two chanting hooded figures appeared around her, but abruptly they stopped.
“Greetings, True Blood of Tsukuyomi,” one said in what seemed a familiar voice, but then her mind shattered as if all her visions erupted in a cataclysmic inferno and then suddenly succumbed to darkness.
-
WHOA! :on lol: MIYABI CHAPPIE :onioncheer: :onioncheer: :onioncheer:
while reading this one.....i noticed Miya's talking in riddles.... :hehehe: :hehehe: :hehehe: not so like her :whistle: but super cool :luvluv2:
Ahem.... :smoke: the miya-airi scene was soooo cute! :luvluv1: :luvluv1: :luvluv1: i miss that couple :shy2:
lately, im liking the miya-airi rabu rabu now...... :hee: maybe coz i havent seen any new videos of Miya-Rii :fainted: and im loving Buono! :shifty: Airi and Miya were super close together..... :shy1: :shy1: :shy1:
oh, Well, love this Miya-Rii Chapter.....arigatou....author-san! :kneelbow: :kneelbow: :kneelbow:
Risako is too cute, too clingy to Miyabi.... :luvluv2:
and oh....love the jealous maimi.... :onionwhip: :onionwhip: :onionwhip: more of that please.... :kekeke:
i really like Miya-Airi-Maimi now a days......hmmm :shifty:
haha....Miya's getting a tatto....that was badass, she's a real yankii now! :on cigar: :on cigar: :on cigar:
ne, ne, Miya and Rii is going to do "it"? :on bleed: haha
so, the two chinese evil were going to capture Miya? nooooo :tantrum: :tantrum: :tantrum:
likey, likey, likey this super chappie....its worth the looooooooong wait! :on cloudeye:
update, ne...soon! author-san! :kneelbow:
oh, forgot to mention....poor Reina! :on hobo: she's in pain :on chew:
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Wow, I hadn't realized exactly how long it was since my last update here. O_O; Honto ni gomen... If you're no longer interested in the story, or forget all of it, I apologize... Anyway. With just one comment so far (thanks as always, ayase!!) and it being well early in the day for me, I thought it a good chance to reply to chapter 9 comments, even though it's been so long. Perhaps it'll help everyone remember too?
Fen: You're one I know is still around at least! :lol: Everyone's learning life lessons as time goes on. Except Airi. She is the paragon of virtue already. XD Perhaps...
sbk: One vote for Reina/Chisa, eh? :) Well, we'll see how things turn out. But you might be able to notice a pattern as things go on... This is now the sequel after all, so focus and flow of things is a bit different. This is really becoming more plot-driven... Glad you enjoyed the realizations. :)
Amarghetta: If you're still around, I'm looking forward to what you have to say this time. :) Thanks for posting what you did at least though! To all you other lurkers: Perhaps unlike my other stories, this one is a lot of work and takes a lot of effort for me to complete. That's probably part of the cause for the long updates... Any comments you can give, even something short like this, makes me feel it's worth it to give that effort, and are great motivation. :) So please post!
JFC: Hopefully that was a good break for you? :oops: Although I know you're behind in catching up with stories right now... Take your time in doing so. :) It almost sounds like Reina's got an addiction or something. :?
Power can definitely be addicting. So can sex. If you combine the two... XD Poor Reina...
Reina's always thought of relationships and sex as something you do for momentary pleasure or advantage, and that's been promoted by her being in the Skulls and being Miki's pupil. Because of that, she's never been able to actually love someone, and eventually got blind to any love that might be directed to her. Also, nobody had ever cared enough to really tell her what they thought of her. Until now, of course... First there's Ai, then Mano... and Chisato.
Also, remember that "unknown language" thing. There's a fun little detail with it in the new chapter. :)
Maimi_Yajima: I apologize to you most for the long wait... I don't know if you'll still read, but if so, I hope you continue to enjoy. Chisato learns well from her best friend. :) Even though she is still a badass Skull... Hence taking Kanon when she couldn't have what she really wanted...
I wonder if Risa will ever find out abou what happened between Ai-chan and Reina...
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LOL
Yup, I'm still around! XD I'm curious to see what's coming! :lol:
So much for the talisman. XD First Reina and now Miyabi!! Who's next?! :O
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I just realized I have never read this story and I also didn't finish Circle of Three! Must go do that, will comment again later.
EDIT: Alright! I reread the Circle of Three and then caught up to this. There is so much I wanted to comment on, but I just can't settle on what to say first.
I guess I should start with praise on how great a writer you are. Once again the expansive plot and emotions of the characters combined to give me a fantastic read. I noticed that your trademark seems to be the constantly changing pairings, with Reina jumping from Chisa to Manoeri to Ai back to (maybe) Chisato as well as the MiyaMaimiAiri triangle and MiyaRisakoAiri triangle. Though that seems to be settling into something solid.
Also you killed off characters and made JunLin enemies, while not quite evil, they do seem to be attacking the True Bloods. Does this mean Airi is next on the list or will Miya's tattoo actually help her out some?
I had some quotes that I wanted to post and comment on, but I've forgotten what I wanted to say now...
I definitely wanted to say something scolding about the RenAi-ness, which I hate for the reason that it usually breaks apart TakaGaki in some way. Like it almost did in this story.
Thanks for reminding me why I didn't like it, btw, I was starting to get too comfy with fics like RenAi Revolution and your perv's. *sarcasmsarcasmsarcasm*
I wonder if Ai and Risa ever had that long talk? Will you eventually get around to that?
Also the Risako and Maimi jealously thing seems to be reoccurring every few chapters, though Rii-chan is dealing with it better than Maimi. I wonder how far Airi will go to prove her love, will she even go so far as to ignore Miyabi's warnings?
Let's see, what else?
I can't seem to think of anything specific now....
I guess I'll just close with saying I think I see some Original Circle to the rescue in the future!
Also I'm glad you updated and I expect to see more of this from you soon, you wonderful author, you.
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I'm always around, lurking. ;)
But, you know, I must be getting old since I didn't remember my last post in this thread... :nervous
Whoa! Miya's becoming more and more like a tough guy girl, and a lot like a leader. Much more than Reina, or "powerless" Miki even. Airi's probably stronger, but her resolution is weaker. Also, her heart hasn't fully accepted her current status. :smhid
I'm not sure if Miya's going to make it though this newfound trial, but she was cautious enough by getting the tattoo. If that doesn't give her the upper hand, might as well just buy her enough time to save Reina or do something heroic (and probably suicidal). :roll:
Oh, and this:
...and most recently to a girl who had died.
Necrophiliac much? :lol:
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WOOHOOO!!! An update!!! ^_^ Looking back a bit, I realize that I haven't commented on this fic in quite some time... But man oh man, I've been dying for an update! THANK YOU! :D
First off, Miya and Risako are so cute. XD Jumping to the end of the chapter for those two.... OMG Poor Risako! (And Miya too, of course... Seeing as she's disappeared like Reina) But Risako has no idea what happened and is waiting for Miya to... well, yea. Poor girl. T__T
Airi and Miya's interaction pre-Maimi's appearance was adorable.
“Miss Suzuki?” she asked, in a low, authoritative-sounding voice. “I was just looking over that paper you gave me, and I must be honest, you are the dumbest girl I’ve ever seen at this school…”
That just made me LOL!! XD It was awesome.
“There are things coming – very bad things – which are far beyond what’s happened before and could possibly be prepared for. You know I love you—” Airi’s face clouded a bit at this, but Miyabi pressed on as she was trying to make a stronger point. “I wish you could have at least that bit of normalcy, but we’re destined to live very unnatural lives. I really think that the sooner you accept that, the happier you’ll be.”
LOL. I got annoyed with Airi while reading this, 'cause it made me think of her doubting Miya's feelings for her a few chapters back. XD But you really get the feeling that Miya would do anything to give Airi that sense of being a "normal" girl if she could... Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. And Airi's hesitancy to accept this is really making her seem like a spoiled brat.. Though I'm basing that on the fact that Miyabi has accepted it and is obviously taking the responsibility very seriously (though that obviously comes hand in hand with all the extra knowledge that Miya has through her power). I mean, seeing rebellious Miya taking it all so seriously while the studious and "mature" Airi is now acting like a little child who doesn't want to grow up... It's a really odd switch from how the whole story began.
And... BUUUUH MAIMI!! Her jealousy of Miyabi is going to get Airi hurt. And you'd think by this point, Airi would trust Miyabi enough to understand that she wouldn't ask her to do something so sincerely if it wasn't something that HAD to be done. I'm obviously annoyed that Airi would let her need to reassure Maimi of her "loyalty" (I guess you could call it) override what she should be doing to get through all of this.
... What happened with Aichan and Risa?! T__T
Risako glanced timidly toward Ai before pulling Miyabi back toward her chair, gesturing her to sit before plopping into her lap.
Ai smiled down at the two of them, if a bit sadly Miyabi thought, and took her own seat again.
Last I remember, Ai told Reina thatshe needed to go have a long talk with Risa... Ai had been feeling guilty about all the cheating she had been doing... And Risa's usually with Ai. You'd think she'd be there in the midst of this headmistress duty stuff. I mean, I could totally understand if Risa just wiped her hands clean of Ai for all that Ai had done... But with what's going on right now, I think Ai's going to need Risa to lean on as Reina, Miya and Airi are obviously going to be gone soon. I'm definitely very interested to figure out what's going on over there.
“Miyabi,” Ai called from behind her, and she halted a few paces from the door. “Everybody is anointing Airi as the one to lead us through whatever it is we’re arriving at, but I really wonder if we’re all following the right one,” she pondered, somewhat vaguely.
For all of Miya insisting she's not a leader, I definitely think she's been the most stable of them all. And with her power of insight, it definitely gives her an advantage. BUt I think she likes it better with her not being in the spotlight. 'Cause really, even though Airi is the "leader" you've already hinted that Airi and Miya have had many talks in private, and it is obvious that Miya has played a very large role in how Airi has acted on things (ex. the missile).
And, finally, I can't remember if I mentioned this is a previous comment of mine, but I am wondering how Miya doesn't know about Junjun and Linlin... I'm assuming that they're the ones behind whatever's going on with Reina (and now Miya's) disappearance. I just find it surprising that of all things Miya sees, she wouldn't be able to spot their treachery (or at least from everything that's happened, they seem really suspicious...) seeing as they're so close to home.
Anyway, great great chapter!! I loved the Miya-ful-ness of this chapter!!! ^_^ Thanks for the update rokun, and I can't wait for the next one! :D
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Um ...
Airi has a spirit of wanting to be free.
perhaps he feels in a cage ... full of responsibilities.
By so much pressure, that the only person who can take it out of this cage is Yajima.
Airi is barely 15 years old.
and japan falls on their shoulders.
She is trying.
but I think Miyabi must get used to the union of Airi and Maimi.
Maimi is jealous again ...
this part not´s my favorite. gomene... xD
The forebodings of Miyabi are interesting.
I like the determination and seguiradad of Maimi, to confront to Miyabi.
I am also pleased to see that airi show to miyabi, that she loves to Maimi, and that Maimi is an important priority for her heart.
to me it seemed a ripe airi ...
Love is a very important factor, even stronger than duty.
to part airi is girlfriend of Maimi and she had to take into account to Maimi.
and say that the only people who see with different eyes to airi, they are Chisato and Maimi.
because Chisato considers as her best friend to airi.
and because Maimi loves to Airi.
Um ...
tanaka, what happened to her?
was absent the spirit rebellious of Tanaka. T.T :cry:
Well ...
I sense that something is coming.
A new adventure and challenges for the lives of these girls.
I hope you develop new characters! new people in this story!
I know that if I ask another chapter ...
I said nothing ...
Well ...
so ...
see you soon.
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rokun, I babble about your stories so much to you on MSN already, it feels excessive to write paragraphs of speculation, questions and general rambling here too... buy yanno, you don't seem to mind so... :grin: Isn't it fun when I bring up random things like the Suzuki family lawyer?
I'm so happy that when I read all of this, the chapter where Ai wakes up to the fact that she was being an awful person to cheat on Risa and does something about it was posted already. Otherwise I might not have been able to read on... T.T You know I wouldn't read ReinAi from anyone but you... and only if there's a chance that TakaGaki kicks ReinAi's butt. >_>
Hey, any chance of showing us the tattoo that Miya got? I find myself quite curious about how it looks. Also, if Airi had actually listened to Miyabi, would her tattoo have looked the same or are they different for each of them? ...and why didn't she ask Reina to go get one too? :/
lol... I sort of like jealous Maimi. XD I do think she's being a little paranoid but after what she's been though, it's understandable that she's a bit untrusting. It's sweet that Airi's so considerate of her feelings and as I mentioned before, her positive mantra of 'I'll be alright' is reassuring for the reader as well. I mean heck, she's a living deity, I'd believe her if she says she'll be alright though I'm sure not listening to Miyabi will have some sort of consequence.
Hm... my comments are sort of all over the place today. Anyway, I'd also like to see Reina eventually get to have that talk with Erina too. I know what with her being abducted, it probably won't be anytime soon but hopefully she doesn't forget about it.
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Okay, so it's been a long time... I've been working on this chapter for a long time too, and so, well, it's long haha. In fact, it's my longest chapter ever. I know some of you want long chapters after such a long break like this. Well, if you do, here you are. :lol: Over 10,000 words. So, if you read, be prepared for a marathon and maybe to take a break or two along the way. Still, it concludes this segment of the story, and things will be changing... If anyone's still reading, please enjoy. :)
Chapter 11
“I still don’t know why you like being out here so late,” Airi said, hugging Maimi’s arm as they walked along through the trees in the darkness. They were walking not far from the marsh near the edge of the greater campus area; it had become that way from the destruction wrought by the battle and the boundary that had occurred when the Circle had been in power, followed by the great storm. Many girls had died around the area… a fact which creeped Airi out whenever she went there since then.
“It’s so quiet,” Maimi said, peering up into the trees which echoed the chorus of insects that patrolled the night. From a bit lower, frogs uttered their hollow croaks amid the brush to either side of their path. Airi even thought she could see one or two hopping across it in front of them from time to time.
“You have a strange idea of quietness,” Airi replied as she gazed around skeptically herself.
“But it’s nature,” Maimi explained, stopping and turning to face Airi. Airi couldn’t help but smile up into the face of the girl she loved. “It’s not the grating of machines or cars, or the endless chatter of dozens of children at work or play.”
Airi reached up to brush a strand of hair out of Maimi’s face. “I guess I just can’t forget all the girls who died here. It doesn’t seem long ago at all, but things have changed so much. I don’t even know where all those frogs could have come from so quickly…”
Maimi’s face clouded at the mentioned of those lost girls, many of whose deaths she was at least partly responsible for.
“I’m sorry,” Airi apologized hurriedly, and leaned up to lay a light kiss on Maimi’s lips. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to be reminded of something like that.”
Maimi didn’t respond, but instead tightened her grip on Airi’s hand and began walking again slowly down the path, Airi close at her side. They walked in the silence of the living nature around them for a while until she eventually spoke again quietly.
“It’s hard looking into their faces every day, Airi,” she said, and Airi thought the grip on her hand tightened even a bit more. “Sometimes I look into one and have to pause a second because it seems as if the ghost of one of those I killed is staring back at me. They were all so young, so innocent. I can’t believe I could have done such a thing.”
Airi cuddled close to her side. “It wasn’t you that killed them. Something was controlling you… Something that you had no way to resist. You’re just as innocent as they were, at the mercy of indiscriminating evil.”
“Maybe,” Maimi replied doubtfully. After a moment she continued, “But I still let it in. I craved power, and that’s why I joined the Circle. And also…” She glanced over to give Airi a very firm look. “I’m still alive.”
Airi kept hugging her arm closely as she thought over the girl’s words. She hated to see Maimi like this, or anyone like this, but then again, she also remembered Maimi from before, when she was deep into the Circle. Finally, she responded with just a few simple words.
“Being dead wouldn’t solve anything.” She began stroking Maimi’s arm gently. “Now you can work toward helping people who still need it. You can help me. I need you…”
Maimi stopped again to turn to Airi, but this time they held each other closely in their arms. They looked into each other’s eyes as they listened to the perpetual song of nature around them.
“Do you know the other reason I like to come here?” Maimi asked. “Especially with you?”
Airi shook her head.
“The past is past. Sure it haunts me, but that doesn’t mean the world can’t keep turning. Out here in the night, among the trees, the grass, the dampness, the life that surrounds us… out here together… It’s really quite romantic.”
Airi blushed, though at the thought, when she tried to bury those of what had happened here like Maimi urged her to, she realized the girl was right. “Oh? So you take me here to try to come onto me, Yajima-senpai?” Airi asked in a mock innocent tone, a soft grin blooming across her face.
“I do that when I take you anywhere,” Maimi replied, with a grin of her own. “How hard are you going to make me try?”
“Just hard enough,” Airi replied, and the two girls leaned close for what they intended to be a much longer kiss.
However, they froze upon hearing rustling in the long reeds, and their eyes immediately darted to where it came from. Exchanging a quick glance, Maimi took Airi’s hand again and pulled her closer to where the sound seemed to have come from. As they got closer, they heard more rustling, and what almost sounded like soft, rushed whispers. They exchanged one more glance before taking another step closer, but leapt back when the reeds suddenly shook violently and two girls hastily emerged from them. They seemed to take a moment to orient themselves, but upon seeing Airi and Maimi staring at them, their eyes widened to saucers as they clutched each other tightly.
The two couples stared at each other a moment, the ones just sprung from the bushes still half-distractedly straightening their seifuku, until Airi realized they weren’t going to be closing their gaping mouths anytime soon.
“Well what do we have here?” Maimi said, a smirk evident in the tone of her voice. “You do know most of you are at an all-girls school so you’ll not get up to anything like this while you’re all on your own away from your socialite parents.”
Finally one of the girls snapped her teeth shut. “Y-Yajima-san!” she nearly squeaked. “You can’t tell my parents! You have no idea what they’ll do to me if they find out that I… that I…”
“Like girls?” Maimi asked, grinning at the two who were now clutching each other tightly. Her comment made the two of them glance at each other and blush deeply.
Airi studied their faces as Maimi tried to break the ice with them. She didn’t think she knew them, but thought she might have seen their faces around here like most of the other students of Seishin. They looked to barely be her age or a bit older.
The one who still hadn’t spoken was now whispering something in a low voice into her friend’s – or secret crush’s? – ear. Strangely though, Airi found she could hear everything she was saying quite clearly.
Airi thought again to the strange conversation she had with Miyabi earlier in the day, where the girl had proposed she get a tattoo of all things. She was a bit troubled by the earnestness she’d heard in her voice, but it was hard to tell what the girl was really thinking sometimes, even before all these visions or whatever she’d been having.
The most astonishing thing about the encounter though had been when she heard Miyabi’s voice in her head even though she obviously wasn’t actually speaking audibly to her. Knowing what she did about Miyabi’s abilities, reading and wandering through other peoples’ minds like she does, the girl being able to do something like that didn’t really surprise her. What did surprise her was that she realized she was able to respond… and she thought Miyabi might have been a bit surprised at that herself.
In discussions with themselves as well as Reina and the remaining former Circle members, they seemed to find some patterns in the powers each of them was able to control. Reina’s seemed to correlate with the weather, and various elements that could be affected by it. Ai’s seemed a bit similar in that the two seemed to do battle together often, but more as opposing forces instead of following the same source.
Miyabi’s seemed less related to external forces and more to those of the mind, as well as bridging dimensions… both spatial and temporal, apparently. Airi, good student that she had tried to be, was interested in the science of something like that, but didn’t think she understood it too well really. What she did see though was what Miyabi was able to do – transport herself from one place to another with seeming ease now, as well as apparently see things from both the past and future. Airi was quite envious of the potential such an ability might entail, but at the same time, after thinking about it, a bit scared. If you could be anywhere or any time, how could you be completely sure of where you actually existed? That was another reason she found it difficult to trust the girl, especially when she goes spouting crazy things like the need to get a tattoo.
As for herself, she hadn’t quite nailed a clear pattern yet, but she knew a lot of what she could do seemed to be linked to the Sun. She wondered if Maimi could be a clue to it – somehow she, Miyabi and Reina seemed to mirror the Circle in some respects, and her girlfriend seemed to be her closest match. Maimi’s power definitely seemed to derive from concrete elements – heat, or cold for example. However, Airi seeming to share in Miyabi’s ability of telepathy made the issue more complex still.
“Airi, I think you’re starting to creep the kids out…” Maimi said, a slightly uncomfortable smile coming to her lips. Airi blinked, realizing she’d been staring at Maimi, and glanced over at the two other girls, who seemed to cling to each other more tightly with her gaze as they stared back worriedly. “Creeping me out a little bit too…” she heard Maimi grumble under her breath, likely thinking no one would hear her. “And here I was trying to be romantic.”
Suddenly a toothy smile burst onto Airi’s face, and she stepped toward the girls, who began trembling at her approach. “Please don’t be so frightened,” she said comfortingly, and reached out to take an arm of each girl lightly in each hand. “You aren’t in any trouble. In fact, Maimi and I here are out here for the same reason you two are – for a quiet, private romantic night.”
“You mean…” one of the girls began.
“You two are…?” the other girl continued.
Airi nodded, her smile widening. She didn’t think the girls’ eyes could stretch any wider.
“We were so worried about being caught,” the first said, and the other nodded. “We know stuff like this is forbidden here, which usually isn’t a problem since there aren’t any boys around, but…”
“Who are we to tell you what’s against the rules?” Airi asked. The girls didn’t realize it, but she was threading warm strands of her power into them through her grip on their arms. With everything happening, she didn’t know how nice a night she could expect anymore, but she wanted to give these girls a pleasant evening at least, and especially allay their fears at being stumbled upon.
“Yeah,” Maimi said, now appraising Airi carefully. Airi thought the girl might have been able to tell what she was doing. “We don’t even go to class.”
The girls giggled at that, as if even the idea of people like Airi and Maimi doing something as novel as going to class was ridiculous, and Airi tried to hold back a sigh. Finally she withdrew her hands. The girls reflexively reached up to rub their arms lightly where she had touched, seeming half-dazed as they caught each other’s eyes again.
“Come on, Maimi,” Airi said, and pulled the girl with her as she began walking back through the woods to leave the two alone once again. Maimi turned back to see the two girls looking only at each other, apparently oblivious to anything else around them, as they drew closer once again.
“That’s a nice little trick you did there,” Maimi told her as she turned back and took Airi’s own arm. “I’d like you to show me something like it… perhaps once we get back to the tower.” The girl said it rather offhandedly, knowing Airi didn’t usually respond well to her innuendo, but this time Airi came to a quick halt, pulling Maimi in beside her to give her a curious sidelong glance.
“I will,” Airi said simply, still looking ahead into the darkness.
“Eh?” Maimi asked, acting confused to play along with her.
Finally Airi looked up into the soft, smiling face before her, seeming to see the pain of the experiences she’d had and the things she’d done hidden behind those dark eyes. She lifted a hand to cup Maimi’s cheek, and at the tender gesture Maimi did blink in surprise. Airi didn’t usually initiate such gentle advances.
“I want you to know once and for all that you’re the only one that matters to me – that you’ll now always be the first person in my heart and mind.”
“Airi…” Maimi said, looking hard into her eyes as if to draw out some truth that Airi was still hiding from her.
In response, Airi leaned forward to kiss her with the aid of some of the warmth she’d imparted to those young girls.
When she finally pulled away, she found Maimi’s eyes to be closed and her face solemn, as if the girl had found her way to another world entirely. Airi’s own head spun from what she imagined must have been a similar sensation – soon after she’d begun supplementing the kiss with the extra warmth, it had felt like a portion of it was reflected back into herself, giving her quite an intoxicated feeling as well. She realized they were each holding the other tightly around the waist, perhaps wanting to be close but also with just the effort of remaining standing.
When Airi regained her senses enough to speak, she felt her lips part with a damp pop. “I think it’s time we headed back to the tower,” she said, noticing she couldn’t put much strength of breath behind it.
Maimi only nodded and pulled her closer.
…
Upon returning to the tower, the halls were completely barren of activity. Airi might have thought it unusual at this time of night, but at the moment she couldn’t think of much other than the older girl next to her whose hand she clutched tightly as they hurried to Maimi’s room.
Upon entering the dark room, Maimi pulled her toward what she thought was just beside the large, ornamented four-posted bed before warm light suddenly flared subtly around them in the aspect of fat candles spread around the room.
“Showing off?” Airi asked wryly as Maimi turned to face her and take both her hands, dark eyes staring into dark eyes that seemed to dance playfully with the reflections from the flames.
“Well I want to impress my girl,” Maimi said, only returning her a warm smile. Airi didn’t know if she’d seen such relaxed contentedness shine from the other in their tumultuous history together. It especially served in stark contrast to the phantoms that had seemed to haunt her out at the swamp. At a time like this, Airi really felt like she was looking right into her bright Sun.
Feeling a quicksilver spark of inspiration, Airi leaned up to kiss Maimi’s cheek gently and whisper in her ear, “Impress me, ne?” She switched to the other ear, feeling Maimi’s warm breath on her face as she passed her lips. “Would you fly with me?”
She pulled back to glimpse a glimmer of confusion in Maimi’s face. “Fly?” Maimi asked in an unsure voice. “What…” Then she blinked, and her eyes widened slightly. “Can you do that?” she breathed.
Airi gave her a soft smile in response before singing tenderly, and slower than the lyrics’ origin, “Mitsu no you ni…” She wrapped her hands around Maimi’s slim waist. “Hane no you ni…” She pulled the older girl tightly to her. “Yume no you ni…” She smiled at the dawning recognition in Maimi’s eyes, leaning forward to rub their cheeks lightly, gently against each other. “Mune no you ni…” She fell back to just in front of Maimi’s face, their lips so close to touching they could feel each others’ heartbeats already in the moment. “Yawarakaku, Utsukushiku…”
“Yes…” Maimi breathed, and their lips touched, leaving the last two words of a song she knew from so long ago pulsing and echoing through their minds.
As their kiss quickly deepened, Airi felt as if she left her body, her mind and soul spiraling into some transcendent world of bliss that she shared with Maimi. She could feel Maimi there with her as they floated through innumerous clouds, basking in the omnipresent warmth of the brilliant Sun, their inseparable intimacy the only thing seeming to keep each of them from drifting away.
“Are we flying…?” she heard a voice reverberate around her in unabashed wonder. In lieu of responding, Airi felt herself awake to sensation once again, even though she was far overwhelmed by it all.
Somehow she realized she was still in an enclosed room, candles flickering their warm light all around, but nothing compared to the heat emanating from the two girls who were somehow now on the bed, tangled in the sheets in their passion, yet as inseparable as in the vision.
“Take my hand,” Airi said, and she donned a smile on a face that wasn’t there toward her companion whose soul drifted beside her. Hands without form grasped each other as they flew through more clouds. Airi realized she was taking them toward the Sun, but it wasn’t getting any closer. She tried going faster. Faster…
“Airi…” she heard Maimi say, worry creeping into her distant-sounding voice.
The two young girls became more aggressive against each other, both so completely absorbed in each other that they knew nothing else. Nothing else other than what they shared… their mutual pleasure… and that they were together. The sounds of their passion echoed around the cavernous room in the tower, where they didn’t realize they were now nearly alone, heightening to a fever pitch.
“Airi…”
Maimi tried to claim her attention again, but Airi didn’t pay her heed, pulling her onward as her brow furrowed in concentration, trying to catch the seemingly unreachable Sun. Soon Maimi’s protests ceased, and she felt the girl’s essence become ever closer to her, nearly gasping when it felt like they became one. It seemed like in that moment the Sun finally came to be within her grasp, and they soared toward it until their vision was nothing but the brilliant light, the pulsing heat coursing through them in one rapturous moment.
…
A dull sound penetrating the nothingness around her, Airi tried to claw herself back to reality, back to something tangible. The sound repeated itself with insistency, as if calling her back to life. She didn’t know where she’d gone, but for a time she wondered if she’d even still been part of this world.
The sound came once again, and this time it pulled her enough out of her malaise that it became sharper, and she was finally able to give it identity… a harsh, insistent knocking from somewhere outside.
She opened her eyes, wincing immediately at the morning light coming in through the high curtained window. The knock came again, as if refusing to allow her time to regain her senses.
“I’m coming…” she mumbled inaudibly likely even to someone right beside her, and as she began to sit up she glanced over at the form beside her, which was beginning to stir in its own protest against the intrusive sound.
She finally managed to slip out of the bed, and as she wobbled over to the door the knock came again, never losing its urgency, but this time she caught it before it was finished with its series of raps and pulled open the door slowly to see a wide-eyed face peering in at her.
“Airi…!” the girl standing there said in something resembling surprise. Then she glanced down, but only for a moment before her eyes snapped back up to Airi’s face, flushing a deep crimson.
“What is it?” Airi grumbled, squinting to get a better look at the girl before her. “…Risako?”
“Um…” Risako replied, her eyes fixed firmly onto Airi’s face.
Airi’s face became more questioning, not seeing what the girl’s point was between her few words and Airi’s own early morning confusion.
“Um…” Risako repeated, her face losing none of its color.
Airi was about to ask what the girl’s problem was, and then perhaps flay her alive for disturbing her so early in the day, but she instead glanced down between them to finally realize for the first time… she had absolutely no clothes on.
Nothing registered for a moment, but then a scream bubbled up in her throat, not making it to her lips in anything other than a cry like that of a strangled cat, but she suddenly slammed the door in her friend’s face and ran back to the bed, nearly falling in her unsteadiness along the way.
Where were her clothes?!
Her mind finally began to grasp the situation, and what had just happened the night before. Maimi was just sitting up in the bed herself, rubbing her eyes, and she stared at her for a moment before crying frantically, “My clothes!”
Maimi, finishing her rubbing, stared numbly back at her.
She began looking around the room then, noting pieces of clothing strewn around it. However, they were nothing more than that – pieces of clothing. Nothing resembled anything like what must have used to be a shirt, or skirt.
Now frantic about what to do about herself, as well as the girl at the door, and trying not even to think about the girl in the bed as the night came crashing back into her memory, she spotted a dresser and dashed over to it, pulling it open to find Maimi’s clothes folded neatly inside. Well… she supposed they would have to do.
A few minutes later found her sitting on a couch in the lounge, patting a distraught Risako on the shoulder. Maimi, in just some light sweats she threw on quickly, paced with her arms folded out in front of the fireplace.
“Are you sure she’s missing?” Airi asked, her voice full of concern for her close friend, but with a hint of skepticism as well.
“She didn’t come back last night,” Risako pouted simply once again, her eyes moist with yet unshed tears.
“Are you sure she didn’t stay somewhere else for the night?” Airi asked, still trying to be comforting. “She could have just stayed with someone else. Or… knowing her… she might have gone off who knows where. You guys did have that big meeting yesterday…”
She hadn’t known about it until Risako told her, since after she met Miyabi in the school building she’d spent the rest of the day with Maimi. Apparently Miyabi made quite the scene in the headmistresses’ office when Risako and Chisato had gone there to ask about Reina. Airi felt that she didn’t at all know anymore what Miyabi was thinking.
The girl had become so hot and cold, proposing strange notions such as that tattoo idea. What good would a tattoo do, anyway?! And there was no way she was going to mar her perfect skin! She actually was surprised the girl hadn’t gotten any of her own yet, since she was about as yankii as Airi thought someone could get. Her and Reina…
It did worry her a little about Reina, but like everyone else who embraced reality, she knew what the girl was like. She shared a gaze with Maimi as she stopped momentarily in her pacing. They also knew Miyabi wasn’t all that different… Herself more than many. That fiery gaze was back in Maimi’s eyes at talk of the girl, but it was different than before, since after last night she knew unequivocally that Airi was hers now.
When she turned back to Risako, she saw the girl giving her a hard look of her own through her tears. The steel in the gaze almost took her breath away.
“She didn’t stay somewhere else,” Risako stated through gritted teeth with finality. When Airi opened her mouth to say something else, Risako cut her off before she could begin. “She promised,” she said tightly.
“Promised?” Airi asked, trying to get more out of her friend now that she seemed to be getting to the point.
“She promised that she’d come back to me last night. She wouldn’t have broken that.”
Airi looked into her face for a long while before realizing that the girl was full of rock solid conviction. Then she realized, perhaps for the first time, how much things had really changed. She was Maimi’s now. Miyabi was no longer connected to her in the same way. Instead, her close friend had taken her place. She’d lived for so long by the idea that she was the one who knew the former Skull best, but she might not be anymore. She realized she had no reason to doubt her friend’s words.
Airi glanced up toward Maimi again, and her new love was no longer pacing, instead watching the two of them very carefully. She could tell by the girl’s face that she’d come to the same conclusion as Airi. It didn’t take Chisato coming into the lounge right at the moment as well with worry etched across her features to make them face what the situation now was.
“So…” Maimi said softly. “We now have two of our most powerful leaders missing.”
…
The mood in the Headmistresses’ office was chaotic, though Airi kept apart from it, her mind far away as she gazed out the huge star-shaped window behind the desk where Ai was doing her best to calm the group of girls before her, even though they weren’t all in such a frenetic state.
Below Airi’s gaze, girls scattered all around the fountain plaza beneath the midday Sun on their way to or from classes, some taking a rest on the benches surrounding the sparklingly spraying water to talk to their friends while they have the rare chance.
More than a few cast wary eyes to the doors of the stark building in front of the fountain, or else up at the star window, even though they couldn’t see those such as Airi just inside. By the unusual amount of activity coming in and out of here today, including most of the top school leaders, they knew something was up. Airi just wished one of them knew more than her, so that she could figure out how to get help for her friends, her… sisters.
At the same time, she had a strong suspicion some of the girls in the crowd down there very well did know what was going on. Those she would especially like to have a word with.
“Is there anything you can do?” she heard Chisato ask in a heated, impassioned voice from within the murmur behind her. “Surely you could organize a search, or something, at least.” The last time Airi heard her friend speaking like that was when she was trying to become a Skull. She wasn’t completely sure what drove the intensity that seemed to fill her now, but was worried at some of her guesses.
“I’ve been telling you, Chisa,” Risako countered in a contrastingly darker, almost unemotional tone of her own. “We should get some girls together and go look ourselves. They can’t really do any more than us, after all.” There was a muffled jangling as she spoke, as of chain links falling against each other. Risako worried her too, but for a different reason. This Risako was like the rebirth of the one that had come out in the horrible battles that happened on this very campus. Until now, Airi hadn’t realized exactly how much of a rejuvenating effect Miyabi had been having on her.
“You can count us in too!” she heard Yuuka yell from the crowd as well. She was there with Kanon and Ayaka, who seemed nigh inseparable, although Kanon had seemed a bit distracted about the situation from almost the minute she’d walked in the door. She also seemed to pay an inordinate amount of attention to Chisato.
Airi wondered at noticing such little things, despite no one else really making a comment on them. It was as if her senses had sharpened along with her abilities and strength. Much of the time she still ignored them, but at a time like this, with her blood heated as much as it was already, everything around here seemed to take on more of a raw intensity. She wondered how much of it really mattered.
Glancing away from the window, she saw Maimi not far from her – she didn’t think the girl had strayed more than a meter from her all day – with Momoko and her severe-looking scar just a pace off of her, arms crossed as austere as she always was these days. She thought she remembered the girl being so random and bubbly before, before all this happened… but she was no longer sure if that memory was real or not.
“I can’t help if you all don’t calm down and help think this through,” a stoic Ai said, her voice thin with stretched patience. “Now, when was the last time you saw them?”
“I already told you,” Risako said darkly, more metal jangling along with her voice, “We talked on the way back after leaving here last night. We were going to head back to the Tower, but she said she had something to do first and for me to go on ahead. She never returned.”
“Did she say anything about what she had to do?” Risa asked from her position beside Ai. “Did you see what direction she went?”
“Almost everything is the opposite direction from the Tower. It could have been anywhere. And no, she didn’t say anything either. You… know how she can be.” That last seemed to elicit a bit of a tightened throat from her, perhaps that Miya wouldn’t trust her enough to tell her everything. Airi knew well what that was like, but also that it didn’t mean she didn’t trust the girl. Miyabi just… did not think in ways like that any longer.
“And Reina?” Ai asked. AIri cast a glance back at the two Headmistresses standing beside each other, Risa not seeming to think anything of Ai’s concern. Suddenly, Airi felt a little saddened for them. She supposed in some cases though, ignorance was bliss.
“I saw her… in the hall of the Tower the night before last,” Chisato said, and Airi caught her casting a very short glance over to the three girls standing behind them with Yuuka at the front. “She seemed…” She glanced back at the three again. “…a bit preoccupied. It looked like she was heading back to her room, but I haven’t seen her since.”
Airi heard Risa snort a laugh. “Who knows what she’d have on her mind.” There was a pause, and then she continued, “Wait, I don’t want to know.” Airi sighed as Ai did her best to keep her face expressionless.
“That’s not funny,” Chisato said in a flat voice. “They’re missing, and maybe in trouble, so this is not the time to make jokes at their expense.”
Risa seemed taken aback at the girl’s vehement defense of Reina. “Sorry. It just came out.” Then she glanced over at Ai. “But I’d be surprised if they were in any kind of trouble. I mean, you know them – who would even be able to trouble them?”
Silence hung at the dearth of responses those gathered in the room were able to give to such a comment.
“I’m afraid that somehow, trouble was able to find them,” Airi said, almost her first words since entering the room. Everyone’s attention suddenly turned to her, making her just a little self-conscious, though she’d pretty much become used to it lately.
“I know you’re concerned about your friends, Airin,” Ai said comfortingly, “But there’s no way you could know…”
“I know,” Airi said, her gaze locking onto the woman’s with a razor sharpness that made her blink.
While the others had been discussing everything that may have happened, and what they might want to try and do about it, she’d been thinking. She didn’t realize it until the night before, but like yesterday when she had that conversation with Miyabi in her mind, she somehow knew that the girl was always there with her. She didn’t think it meant she was always watching her thoughts – that would be a stinging violation even for her – but she thought it had something to do with the connection they shared with their powers. At some point last night, even though she didn’t realize it the moment it happened because she was rather… preoccupied… that phantom link had vanished. She didn’t realize it until she thought about it this morning, but what that meant concerned her greatly.
There was also the matter of the warning Miyabi gave her yesterday that she somehow seemed to think would be remedied by the tattoo. She’d been around Miyabi with her newfound insight long enough now to realize the girl knew a great many things, and she seemed to know about something that was going to happen to them soon. Now, with Reina, and then the girl herself, missing, she thought it must be more than mere coincidence.
“Well…” Chisato said, seeming a little uncertain all of a sudden. Airi glanced at the crowd of young girls and realized they were all giving her very odd looks. “Trouble or not, I think we should try to find them. If you… think something bad is going on too… we should all go together. With what you can do, I’m sure you’d be able to do more than any of us could to help.
Airi looked away again to the window, watching the girls below continue drifting every which way as if they were grains of sand caught up in a storm – a storm that centered right where she was standing. Turning back, she found everyone in the room still looking her way, though they cast furtive glances to each other as well, at what she was sure was her odd behavior.
“Two nights ago, Reina disappeared…” she reiterated. Chisato nodded in her vehement confirmation. “Then last night, Miyabi did as well.” This time, Risako nodded. “Don’t you guys see a pattern here?” They all looked at each other. The looks from Maimi and Ai though suddenly became more serious.
Airi looked into the faces of the two girls who were her best friends before all this madness began. “Whatever happened to them, the last two nights, I’m probably next tonight.”
That lit a firestorm.
Maimi took a step toward her, her arms uncrossing to take her hand, a deadly serious look crossing her features. “I swear on my life, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
The eyes of the girls in the room who’d been with them through the battles they all thought were finished widened. “We can’t lose you too!” Yuuka cried desperately. “No,” Chisato said, shaking her head in disbelief at Airi’s words. “Just no!” Aika nodded at Chisato’s words, a pleading look coming on her face too as if for Airi to take back what she said.
Even when she glanced at Momoko, who’d been stoic ever since the battles and had spoken few words, she found the girl giving her an intense gaze in return as if to back up what Maimi said about not letting anything happen to her. She was one of the ones most loyal to Shimizu-san before, and by extension to Ai and Maimi, and with how they’d all joined together since then she seemed to have enveloped Airi and the others in that mix as well.
A loud, shattering sound as if thunder had struck within the room they occupied brought the commotion to an abrupt, shocked halt, but Airi couldn’t take her eyes off the barbed metal ball that had just been slammed onto Ai’s desk, nearly snapping it in two instantly. Instead, with a whining creak, the cracks spread out from the center before it split apart and collapsed to the floor, a few scattered papers falling with it as the two women behind the desk stared in shock at the destruction right in front of them.
Once Airi found herself, her eyes traveled back along the chain connected to the ball to the handle, which Risako held tightly in her hands, her eyes finding Airi’s the moment Airi looked her way.
“Why do you want to leave us?” the girl asked simply, quietly into the silence.
Airi blinked. “I don’t want to leave you…” she said, confused by her friend’s question. She felt Maimi’s hands tighten around her own.
“It sounds like you’ve already given yourself up to this problem, this threat that we don’t even know is real yet. It’s like none of us are even here in the room with you.”
“That’s not true,” Airi protested, and she glanced at Maimi as if to assure her that’s not at all what she thought. Maimi gave her a hard look, but one that was lovingly supportive as well. “But you guys don’t realize…”
“What?” Risako asked, pulling her flail with a harsh grating sound off of the ruined desk and back toward her. “What don’t we realize?”
“It’s…” Airi said, looking down. “It’s complicated…”
“I see,” Risako said. “And you don’t think we’d understand? We don’t have all those fancy magical powers like you do, so we couldn’t possibly understand what’s wrong?”
“I don’t mean it that…”
“Rii-chan,” Chisato said soothingly, laying a hand on Risako’s arm. Risako shot her a sharp look, but didn’t act to pull back. “We’re all trying our best here to figure out what’s going on.”
“Tell that to her,” Risako said vehemently, pointing directly at Airi. “She’s the one that’s in the middle of all this. She’s the one everyone around here thinks is a god. None of the others, even Miya and Reina, are near as important.”
Chisato seemed unable to answer her, but a cough came from the other side of the desk as the two women there seemed to have finally regained their composure.
“That’s enough,” Ai said, giving Risako a hard look when the girl turned to her. She must have been upset about her desk, but that didn’t seem to be what was most on her mind at the moment.
“We’ve all done our best to bring this school back to where it was before it was corrupted. Airi and the others have even done their best to try to bring the country back to where it was. If there’s some new threat, we just need to get to the bottom of it. Maybe we all have our own opinions of how that should be done, but it’ll be best if we work together.”
She shot a look at Airi. “In case what you say is true, the most important thing is for you to have someone with you at all times. It sounds like Reina and Miyabi were probably alone for whatever happened to them, so if you never are, then I’m betting you’ll be safe.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Maimi said firmly, not giving Airi a choice in the matter.
“Me too,” Momoko agreed, the shadows fierce around her scar as she nodded in her direction, even though her eyes still strayed askance at the flail Risako had reclaimed. Airi finally realized why – the weapon had been hers in the beginning, until Risako had taken it from her… as well as given her that scar. Risako had been quiet about things like that which happened during the war, but now this part of it at least fell into place.
Before Airi could say anything in her own defense, Ai nodded and continued. “As for Reina and Miyabi, they both seemed to go missing sometime during the night. That means it might be tough for us to piece together what happened while the sun’s shining since those involved might be engaged in different activities.”
“Do you really think students could have done this?” Chisato asked, seeming to not want to believe it.
“I think we should keep our options open,” Ai replied firmly. “And I’m also not saying we should do nothing until nightfall. I’m going to order that all classes be canceled for the remainder of the day…” The girls in the room shared a look at that, a few seeming surprised but others like Risako nodding in approval. “…and that everyone should return to their dorms and not leave them until further word. I’ll send the faculty home—”
“But some of them could be involved!” Chinami protested, interrupting the Headmistress. “We can’t let anyone leave!” The older girl had originally supported the Circle through most of the battle for Seishin, but since Reina had saved her and converted her to their side, she remained fiercely loyal to the three of them, especially Reina. In a way, similar to…
“She’s right!” Yuuka added. “Wouldn’t it be more likely for some of them to be behind it too? I mean, the others are just students…”
“You forget,” Ai replied wryly. “Since our reopening, the students we have here could be capable of… quite a bit, given the right motivation. And considering the families many of them come from, there could be plenty of motivation as well.”
“But…” Yuuka continued objecting.
“Since these events happen at night, when those teachers who do not live on campus are all gone, it’s not likely that anyone who’d go home would be involved. Plus it’ll give us less confusion to sort through in order to hopefully come up with the reality of what’s been happening.”
She turned her attention to Airi, as well as Chisato and Risako. “Once everyone’s returned where they should be, we’ll split up into a few small groups to do a search. I’ll take one – I think you should come with me, Airi. Okai-san, Sugaya-san, you take the others. Split up however you’d like. I promise you, we’ll get to the bottom of this.” She looked back up into Airi’s face and gave an unsteady smile. “Is everyone all right with that plan?”
Thankful that someone restored some order to the frazzled group, Airi smiled and nodded her gratitude. She wasn’t crazy about having people looking after her as if she was a meek little lamb or something, but she saw the sense in what the woman proposed as well. Glancing into Maimi’s eyes, she definitely knew that she at least was not going to let her get more than a pace away from her. Not that she wanted to, not after the night they’d just had together.
She smiled lovingly, comfortingly to her girlfriend, and saw some of her hard features soften slightly. It seemed like the two of them finally had really found each other, but suddenly she didn’t know how long it would be able to last.
“Let’s just find Miya and Reina,” she said to the room, though she still was gazing deeply into Maimi’s eyes. “Then everything will be all right again.”
…
“You two should go and get some rest,” Ai advised the two girls struggling to keep up with them. “You’re no good to anyone if you can’t even stand up straight.”
“I’m not going anywhere until we find Miya,” Risako stated flatly as she held tightly onto Chisato’s hand.
“Me…” Chisato began, before a yawn interrupted her, “neither…”
They’d been searching campus fruitlessly all day, seemingly from top to bottom. All of the academic buildings… the dining halls… the dorms… Interviewing other students… The Sun had set an hour or so ago, and now a brilliant near-full moon was fighting to shine its vanilla light in through the trees.
Airi, Ai and Maimi strode along the path through the woods, leading the bunch of girls on the late evening search party. The girls in the other groups had gotten too tired of being on their feet all day, and so most of them already returned to their dorms. Risa, having gotten pretty tired too, went back to take care of some end-of-day business.
That left those three, who despite the woes of their companions had hardly seemed to break a sweat, as well as Chisato, Risako, and Momoko, who kept to her promise to join Maimi in not leaving Airi alone. When Risako and Chisato joined up with them though, it caused a little bit of drama.
“How about you?” Chisato asked the peach girl, who did her best to keep up at Maimi’s side. “You must be as tired as us but…” She yawned again. “You hardly seem to show it.”
“I have a lot of energy,” Momoko said plainly.
“I remember that,” Airi said, wanting to learn a bit more about the girl who now seemed adamant at being her bodyguard. “I used to see you with some… friends… and you were so boisterous, entertaining, talkative… like you said, full of energy. It kinda surprised me to see you as quiet as you are now.”
The girl was quiet for a moment as they walked onward, seeming like she was lost in thought. “You don’t have to be so polite with me,” she finally replied. “I lost a lot in the battle here.” She glanced to Risako, who peered guardedly back at her from beneath her eyelashes.
“Last I remember,” Risako said softly, “You were trying to kill me.”
A small smile, made crooked by the scar, widened Momoko’s lips. “I’m sorry. I picked…” She glanced up to Maimi, who nodded expressionlessly. “I picked the wrong side. A lot of us did, unfortunately… I guess I should be glad I got out of it as easily as I did.”
She reached up a hand to trace a finger along her scar. “We were given… so much confidence… We thought we were fighting in a good cause, for the good of the school.”
When Airi laid a hand on her shoulder, the girl blinked up at her in a strange birdlike manner. “I don’t hold it against you. It’s not your fault. So few people really knew what was going on… I’m not sure if even we knew what was going on, at least for a long time there, and we all stuck with our friends. You can’t be more honorable than that.”
Momoko kept smiling to show her thanks, but pulled away from her hand. “Saki-chan was… my best friend… The battle was hard, but losing her was harder. I should have noticed what she’d become, but I was blinded by loyalty. I didn’t realize until then that, really… I had lost her long ago…”
“You did what you had to do,” Chisato told her encouragingly.
Risako, after being silent for a time, spoke up next. “I think we were all blinded by loyalty. For many of us that meant being blinded by something we had absolutely no control over too. It could have just as easily been me if I was a little older, if I was in the same class as you and Shimizu-san. What’s important is that we’re one now. We have to stay together, support each other, like you’re doing for Airin. It seems like there’s something else out there now, something bigger even than what came before. We’ll need to stick together to fight it.”
This time when Momoko glanced over to Risako, there was wetness around one of her eyes, even if not the other since, Airi realized, it had probably lost its tear ducts. Realizing that, it explained why the girl seemed to squint so much with that eye. At least she hadn’t completely lost it…
“Thank you…” Momoko told her quietly, and Risako’s look in return almost seemed sympathetic, at least until she steeled it again.
“No problem,” she replied. “Although… I’m not giving your flail back.”
Momoko almost seemed to laugh at that. “That’s okay.” She raised a hand to her scar again. “This is the only reminder of that I need. Besides… you won it fair and square.”
Risako nodded, smiling softly, and Airi smiled herself, glad to see yet more of the tension from things past fade away into nothing but memory. She felt a soft squeeze on her hand, and looked over to see Maimi smiling over at her, an expression she shared with her secretly. If they could only find Miya and Reina, she felt she actually might be optimistic about the future for the first time in a long while.
Airi had just realized they were nearing the swamp, when they heard a faint call from somewhere distant within the blackness of the forest.
“Airi… Airi…”
The girls froze, trying to be completely silent to try and hear more of the eerie sound.
“Airi…” the voice came again, though it almost seemed fainter this time.
“Who do you suppose that is?” Ai whispered to anyone who might have an answer.
“I… I don’t…” Airi whispered back, trying to focus her mind to pick up anything that might help them.
“Airi… Risako… help…!”
This time, even though the voice was so faint, its intent was indisputable.
“It’s Miya!” Risako said, whispers forgotten. She straightened up, peering wildly into the trees. “Miya!” she yelled into the blackness, causing the girls to jump in fright when a flock of birds who must have been settling in for the night suddenly rose up and took wing from a large tree beside them. “Where are you?!”
“Shh!” Maimi hissed at the girl. “Do you want to get her in more trouble than she might already have? We don’t know what’s going on out there; why she’s yelling!”
“Risako!” the voice called again, this time more insistent as if it had heard the girl’s own calls. Having gone into action after Risako’s movement, Airi froze again. Somehow she could tell that… something was wrong…
“It’s her!” Risako jabbered excitedly to the others. “I have to go! I have to find her!”
“I’ll go with you!” Chisato added, and Airi noticed she seemed excited as well. “If Miya’s there, Reina might be with her!” She grabbed at her friend’s arm just in time before Risako pulled her off into the trees.
“Wait!” Airi and Ai called, almost at the same time, then darted looks at each other.
“Something’s not right,” Ai told her, as if the thought had just come to her out of the blue.
Airi nodded. “Go after them. Make sure they don’t get into trouble. I trust that you can take care of anything that comes up.”
“Right,” Ai replied, looking anxious and exasperated. “You stay here.” Airi nodded, having planned on that all along, and figuring they’d want to keep her as far away from potential trouble as they could.
“Momo,” Airi said, turning to the other girl. “You go too.”
“But…” the girl replied, glancing between her and Maimi.
“We’ll be fine,” Airi assured her. “I don’t want someone going in there alone, even someone like Ai-chan.” When Maimi gave a nod as well, implying that she’d take care of Airi, Momoko reluctantly seemed to agree and followed after Ai off into the woods. Before long, it was quiet but for the breathing of the two remaining girls.
“Do you think that was really Natsuyaki?” Maimi asked her finally in a low voice.
“I don’t know…” Airi said, shaking her head slowly. “It might be. Someone was calling out there after all. But…”
“But…?” Maimi pressed her.
“But something just doesn’t feel right to me,” Airi finished, and she suddenly felt the need to rub at her arms as if she felt a chill run through her.
The minutes dragged by as they waited on the path, the sounds of the night echoing all around them. So far they’d heard nothing else though of returning girls, or any more strange calls into the night.
“Well…” Maimi said lightly, apparently trying to break the tension. “This definitely feels different than the last time we were out here.”
Airi looked up to see her girlfriend grinning down at her, though the effect was lost since she didn’t seem to be able to get fully into it. Taking her hand from Maimi’s, she slapped at the girl’s shoulder. “Stop it,” she pouted. “This really isn’t the time…”
“Just trying to…” Maimi began to protest, but then another soft cry broke through the chirping and croaking around them.
“Airi… Maimi…” the ethereal voice said. “Help me…”
Unlike before, this seemed to have a specific direction – farther down the path. Also unlike before, this voice was noticeably different. Airi and Maimi shared a look with each other.
“Reina?” Maimi asked.
Airi nodded. “Let’s go,” she said, and she started down the path toward the voice.
“Be careful!” Maimi warned, jumping to catch up with her. “You know something’s not right here.”
“I know,” Airi said. “But we won’t find any answers just standing around there. Plus, with as long as it’s been, do you think the others would even find their way back to that spot in the middle of the night like this? They may even be back on campus already.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Maimi continued, falling into a brisk trot with her. “I mean for you to be careful. You yourself said it made sense that something might happen to you tonight – maybe the same thing that happened to the others.”
“I know,” Airi repeated as she rushed along into the night. “But that’s why I have you to take care of me, isn’t it?” She meant it as a soft chide, but when the girl didn’t respond she became worried she’d been too flippant. However, when she slowed down to reassure the other girl, she noticed that there was no one at her side.
“Maimi?” she asked, but when there was no reply she slowed down to a stop and looked around. “Maimi?” she repeated, but this time in a smaller, slightly more fear-filled voice.
She heard the hooting of an owl in a tree nearby… the chirping of the nocturnal insects all around her… the croaking of a frog somewhere near the path in the damp marsh of the swamp that was so near… but she caught no sight of Maimi or anyone else near her.
All too quickly she realized that something must have happened. She knew there was something wrong, and she thought she had just experienced the results of it first-hand. Nearly cursing at herself for her stupidity, she turned up the path to consider what to do now.
She was far from helpless. In fact, she was possibly the most powerful person in the world. Given that, why should she be afraid of being alone in a swamp on a dark night? At a time when all of her companions seemed to have run off… when two of her closest friends had truly disappeared in the two days before. Still, that was no reason. She had no reason to be afraid. She was the Sun.
She looked up into the darkness. Whatever light the moon might have had was now almost completely covered up by the umbrella of the trees above her. There was now just enough of a glow of light for her to see vaguely in her immediate surroundings.
She blinked.
It wasn’t just what was right around her. There was a soft glow of light coming from somewhere in the not too far off distance as well. As her eyes adjusted she realized it was further on down the trail. Looking around and realizing there didn’t seem anything else for her to do, she walked toward the light, and as she did she realized it became brighter as she closed in on it.
Picking up her speed, thinking it was one of her friends that must have brought a flashlight to look for her, she ran lightly down the trail.
“Maimi?” she called out softly, though still a bit uncertainly, toward it. “Ai-chan?” As she came closer, she realized it couldn’t be the light from a flashlight since it seemed to cover too broad an area. She began to slow.
“…Reina?”
Finally reaching her goal, she felt her feet squishing in the bog that must have been very near the actual swamp. As she stopped, she realized that she was in the middle of a halo of candles, all flickering what seemed so brightly around her in the blackness of the night.
Wait… Black night…?
She looked up. She was in a small clearing, which made her realize she must really be at the edge of the swamp. It should have been clear sky above her. Instead, it was completely dark. No stars. No moon. Even though it was the Sun that gave her life… gave her warmth… somehow finding the moon missing was nearly as troubling.
“You know,” she heard a voice say from beyond the circle of small flames, “You really did give us the most trouble.”
“Yes,” another voice said from the other side. Airi strained to see who was talking, but her vision outside of the candles seemed blurred by the night. “The others were easy enough; no real friends… so much time spent alone… You’d almost feel sorry for them.”
“What are you talking about?” Airi asked, trying to suppress her fear as her mind whirred trying to keep up with the situation. That feeling that something wasn’t right was very strong right now – she hadn’t even noticed it in her desire to get to the lights – and she realized whatever was going on, she might have to fight her way out of it.
“Your two friends of course,” the second voice replied. “Such a pity, really.”
“Do you know where Miya and Reina are?” Airi asked, fury now bottling up within her. She decided that the instant she caught sight of one of the people talking to her – they sounded to be girls not too much older than herself, so their suspicions about other students must have been correct, though she couldn’t imagine who it would have been – she would unleash that fury.
Her words were met with laughter.
“You needn’t worry yourself about them,” the first voice said, now in a more serious tone. “They’re… taking a little nap.”
“What did you do to them!” Airi shouted out, hearing her voice fall hollowly in the shell of the swamp around her.
“You’ll see soon enough,” the second one said. “You’ll all see.”
There.
She finally caught a glimpse of a form looming out of the darkness. Without thought, she reached within herself for the power inside, the power of the Sun that she called to do her bidding, to carry out righteous retribution on her would-be captors. She had to resist the urge to burn them to a crisp where they stood – she needed them for information on how to find Miyabi and Reina. Down into the core of her being, she reached.
There was nothing there.
In her stupefied shock she didn’t realize it at first, but the girls around her had begun chanting in some language she didn’t know. They loomed closer, their cloaked and hooded forms now visible just above the candles around her.
She now knew she was in a fight for her life.
Even without her power, she was still strong, and knew she could take them. She could take anyone. Loading her body like a spring, she acted as if to jump out at the one to her right, but found herself stuck fast. Looking down, she realized that she was now knee-deep in the muck. With sinking realization she realized; she was no longer at the edge of the swamp, but in the swamp itself.
Looking closer around her, she noticed that most of the candles floated in little boats, strung together by a line that held them in position. She gave as much effort as she could to lift her feet out of the mire, but they wouldn’t give. Soon she realized that if she was going to do any fighting, it would have to be from where she stood.
As her ears caught the chanting once again, she noticed it sounded a little more strained than it was before. Eventually one of the voices dropped out.
“Chun thought I was overreacting, but I’m glad we decided to take these extra precautions,” a no longer teasing voice said from beside her. “If we’d treated you like the others – hadn’t brought you somewhere your physical strength could be neutralized – we would have failed. And that just would not have been satisfactory at all…”
She picked up the chanting again, and Airi realized that she was beginning to feel drowsy. The effects of the day and being stuck in the bog must be getting to her. What had the girl said? Chun? Where had she heard that name before…?
This time the other girl, this Chun, dropped out of the chant. “The result is the same,” she said plainly as if in response to the other. “Now,” she continued, in a very serious voice that sounded as if it would brook no nonsense. “It is time for you to sleep.”
Airi fought to keep her eyes open, fought to keep herself upright and not collapse into the swamp. “Damn you…” she said in a quickly weakening voice. “You don’t know… what you’ve done…”
“Oh you will find out what we have done soon enough,” Chun intoned. “Unfortunately, we do not think you are going to like it.” Airi could feel herself slipping slowly into unconsciousness now, but realized that her legs, stuck as they were in the mire, were somehow keeping her upright.
“Nope,” the other said, apparently having finished her chanting as well. “Not one bit…”
Falling into blackness, Airi clung to the image of Maimi’s face in her mind, that image feeling like the only thing left to her. “I’m sorry…” she thought in a final, silent prayer.
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OMG update! *off to read*
EDIT: Wow, just wow. 100% worth the wait, this totally makes me want to go back and read Circle of Three again. In fact, I think I might do that.
The MaimiAiri bits were cute, romantic time in the swamp? Lols. I wonder how Maimi and Ai are going to handle things without the Skull girls around, if they'll figure out in time who's behind the attacks? I don't know if I mentioned it in a former post, but Jun and Lin as 'evil doers' is so awesome, Chinese invasion! :rockon: Now it's up to the Aibutt&Co. to save the day.
Are we going to be seeing anymore of your fics updated in the near future?
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Okay, now that I’ve gotten (a little) sleep, I want to respond to your :heart: chapter 10 comments. ^_^ Thank you for so many good ones, by the way!!! I hoped you all would still be around… though with things slow lately, as well as the length of this update, I’m not sure about comments this time. ^^; Anyway, onward!
ayase: I’ve told you I :heart: your comments, haven’t I? ^_^ They’re so cute! Miya is a bit different in this story from how we all know and love her. But to me, that’s how an AU fantasy like this works. A lot of stuff has happened to affect the girls involving their powers… Miya having near-omniscience of people around the world, for example… Having jumbles of terabytes of new information in one’s head can definitely have an affect on one’s personality… And dang, now you like Miya-Airi? XD What does it take to make you happy?!?! Lol. It’s probably what happens with so long between updates lol. Still, I hope you’re up for some MiRii doses still from here. ;) You like jealous Maimi too, huh? Gonna have to show someone else that. :P Well for obvious reasons Miya herself is missing from this recent update… but I hope you read still…. ^_^
FenFen: Somehow I feel I know you a lot better than I did back when I was writing earlier chapters of this. :lol: Must be… *cough*… nevermind… Well, your question will be answered here lol, and I’m glad you’re reading! :) Don’t forget the talisman quite yet either…
rndm: Lol thank you for the comment on this chapter already! Suppose I should have counted on you to read right away, even in the wee hours of the morning. >.> You left a great comment last time too. Wait, you reread CoT then and you want to do it again? Lol XD Well, I’m glad you’re liking it so much. I did notice you mention elsewhere how you like fantasies… Actually, if you did reread, maybe you would think to post those quotes you liked? XD I’d love to see ‘em. :) Also, np for rekindling your ReinAi hate. ^_^ I might have something coming up soon to hopefully help remedy that though. Thanks always for the wonderful praise. :)
As for your question about other fics... I do hope to have more updates coming soon. :)
Amarghetta: Hi there! You must be lurking! Wonder if I’ll pull you out of it again. :) You’re not the only one getting old! :lol: You have very good insights to what might happen. :)
maize: Another lurker! Though I remember you following my stories from before, and thanks. :) Poor Risako indeed. You get to see her rather… strong response in this update. Speaking of which, since this is Airi’s chapter… I wonder if it’ll affect everyone’s opinions of her at all. Then again… probably not. XD I think part of how Miya is approaching things vs. Airi is that Miya through her powers really knows at least nearly the full effect of what’s going on, perhaps too soon, while Airi’s still kind of finding her way. I think this current update shows some of what her unique strength and confidence is as well though.
As for the TakaGaki stuff you guys have been asking about… XD You guys really are loyal, aren’t you? Lol. Well, with how things stand at the end of this current update (won’t eay exactly to avoid spoilage), I think we’ll get some more time to see what’s going on with the other characters like them. :) These last few chapters have had… rather specific focus.
And ahh! I’m glad to see your wonder about Miya involving JunLin. :) I wondered if anyone was thinking about that, because it does seem a little inconsistent… But soon now, we’ll all see the true nature of the threat against them. :)
Casy :heart:: Glad you see it a bit from Airi’s perspective! :lol: Hopefully you’ll enjoy some of the parts of this update more. :) Well… I already know you do. XD Otherwise, yes, yes, Reina was absent ;) just like Miya. Will we see them again? I hope you and everyone else enjoys the coming adventure. :)
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UPDATE!!!! I just read your replies to Ch. 10 and I had to go back and read what the heck I said in the first place. XD But don't worry. Your stories always pull me out of lurker mode - I've go them on e-mail alert whenever the thread is updated (which makes for some super disappointed moments when it's just someone commenting and not an actual chapter update. XD)
Anyway, I'll update this comment with my thoughts after I read it (after work). ^_^
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Wow, I had forgotten I'd commented, it was so long ago. :lol: But really I do love fantasy stories and this is right up my alley.
Maybe I will go back and grab some quotes, but it might take me some time to do. I'll reserve that for here. Really, I just want an excuse to post again 'cause I'm infinitely bored.
RenAi hate? *scans back up* O~h yeah. You know, speaking of character hate, I suddenly remembered a comment on another of your stories where I said I'd probably never like Momoko because I thought she was stuck up, or something to that affect. Guess what? I'm starting to like Momo :lol: , thanks in part to you and seeing her in the Hello!Pro Meeting. Though I still think she's stuck up...
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woo..... :whistle: author-san! ur still alive and u updated this fic :on woohoo: :on woohoo: :on woohoo: joking :on ksweat:
i read your reply in my chap10 comment :on study: its not that i dont like Mi-Rii at all, i still love them :luvluv1: :luvluv1: :luvluv1:
its just that, kinda like the closeness i see between Miya-Airi in Buono! :shy2: :shy2: :shy2:
hmm... :hee: that's why im thinking of asking u to write a one-shot about this couple if ur not busy, te-hee :on hypto: :on hypto: :on hypto:
maimi-airi scene was romantic and cute i guess :whistle: :whistle: :whistle: Risako...oh, seeing airi naked early in the morning huh :hehehe:
grr...gotta go! not finish reading the chapter yet! read it later...
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Hello, there! Yup, I'm lurking mostly... Don't have much energy for anything else, actually. :(
While reading this update, I was a little lost, as in not being able to remember which fic it was... :lol:
I'm quite surprised about LinChun taking the Skulls down so easily, despite their eventual hyperawareness. If any, it shows strategy can beat immense power, thus posing them as a real threat for everyone there. :huhuh
And yay for the update! :thumbsup
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okay....i just finished reading the circle of three again :on study: up to the latest chapter of the sword and the dove :cool2:
te-hee, i just want to understand the story more cos kind of forget it :hee: :hee: :hee:
so, the two evil china town girl finally captured the three goddesses :OMG: :OMG: :OMG:
has it something to do with what miya said about them three going away during the meeting while in her trance-like mode thing? :dunno:
oh...a worried rii-chan :badluck: is a scary rii-chan :on shady: throwing the flail all of a sudden and destroying ai-chan's table, koiwai yo :on chew: :on chew: :on chew:
does the tattoo will really help miya or she's just crazy that time and confused about her powers being the tattoo a protective talisman :glasses: :glasses: :glasses:
i hope the remaining circle would help them, something miya said about ai-chan taking up the sword..... :bingo:
well, reading again the first installment up to the latest chapter really refresh my mind and made me remember how i love this story te-hee :luvluv2: :luvluv2: :luvluv2:
now, author-san...dont take too loooong to update ne? :wriggly:
domo again.... :kneelbow: :kneelbow: :kneelbow:
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Since I waited a few weeks, I figured I should just make a new comment incase you missed me updating my original one. XD
So... As Miya's off getting captured, Airi and Maimi are having the time of their lives, huh? XD While poor Risako's worrying why Miya hasn't come back... T__T
I love Risako at the door with Airi "all nude".
“She didn’t stay somewhere else,” Risako stated through gritted teeth with finality. When Airi opened her mouth to say something else, Risako cut her off before she could begin. “She promised,” she said tightly. ... “She promised that she’d come back to me last night. She wouldn’t have broken that.”
Airi looked into her face for a long while before realizing that the girl was full of rock solid conviction. Then she realized, perhaps for the first time, how much things had really changed. She was Maimi’s now. Miyabi was no longer connected to her in the same way. Instead, her close friend had taken her place. She’d lived for so long by the idea that she was the one who knew the former Skull best, but she might not be anymore. She realized she had no reason to doubt her friend’s words.
That's right Airi. You can't have your cake and eat it too (I really don't understand what is up with that saying, seeing as if it's your cake, you should be able to eat it). You gave Miya up, and now you gotta face the music, knowing you're not the person closest to her anymore. ... It amuses me how irritated I get with Airi in this fic. XD
“So…” Maimi said softly. “We now have two of our most powerful leaders missing.”
Dundundun... Well... Maybe Maimi and Airi will realize that Miya wasn't just messing with them about this tattoo business. I wonder if Maimi will feel guilty in the end if that tattoo Miya asked Airi to get will really play a part in helping Miya.
I'm still wondering what's going on with Risa and Aichan. Nothing much was given away in this chapter regarding that, other than Risa saying a few biting things about Reina...
There was also the matter of the warning Miyabi gave her yesterday that she somehow seemed to think would be remedied by the tattoo. She’d been around Miyabi with her newfound insight long enough now to realize the girl knew a great many things, and she seemed to know about something that was going to happen to them soon. Now, with Reina, and then the girl herself, missing, she thought it must be more than mere coincidence.
DUH AIRI. -_-;
[All the stuff at the end with Airi getting caught]
And so it begins... I'm quite interested to see what's happened to the 3 as well was how the other who are left behind deal with losing their 3 leaders... And I wonder if Jun and Lin will be discovered - or if they're just gonna up and leave (thus blowing their cover through their disappearance).
I hope we don't have to wait too long for the next update!! :D Thanks for this one! ^_^
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I've completely forgotten what has happened previously. lol
Oh well. But the Chinese folks have captured Airi!! :O Who's gonna come to the rescue~?! Dun dun dun. *adds own dramatic effect*
Needs more Ai. :P
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I forgot how incredibly long the last chapter was. :lol: I don't know what the next one will be like since I haven't been writing as long lately, but I've just planned a lot of stuff for it... I think it's actually gotten me past my block! Not sure how many people were reading this, but I know a few have been asking about it... With my new work on it, I thought I'd go ahead and do some comment replies so there'd be a little bit to go on at least. ^^
rndm: Next chapter will be a bit of a detour in a different style, but we'll find out the answers to your questions soon too. :) In all this time did you reread CoT? :lol: Maybe wait until I get this next chapter posted... I'm hoping by this weekend sometime unless another fancy strikes me. I guess I was right about my new office environment rekindling my writing spirit...
maiZe: I know you're one waiting for a new update here. :) Well hopefully you won't have to wait much longer~ :heart: Thank you for loyally reading and commenting on my fics for so long!!!
Yes, poor insensitive Airi and Maimi to Risako's current issues. :P Ahh your irritation with Airi... It's impressed me for so long. XD I'm guessing it's cause she isn't the most pleasant to Miya? :P At least to begin with... TakaGaki will be playing a bigger part once we return to their story soon, so hopefully you and others will get some of your questions answered then. :) You darn TakaGaki fans. :P Your thoughts at the end will begin to be answered right away. :) Also to one of rndm's comments, perhaps more Momo will come around as well :) (though she isn't as big here as in other stories)
ayase: I hope you enjoyed the MiyAiri one-shot awhile back :lol:. Hopefully eventually some more MiRii fulfillment in this story. :P Though... not for a while now.
Man, all these double comments for this one. :lol: I bet you'll have forgotten it all again by this point though. >.> Aichan will definitely be taking up the sword, along with others. Sorry it's taking so long to update. T_______T;;
Amarghetta: I hope you have more energy these days!!! You'll learn more about LinChun soon :) and what else is going on.
Fen: Obviously you weren't too late to comment. :lol: More Ai before too long. :P Even though this is really an ensemble fic.
Thank you all, and again my sincere apologies for being such a bad author-san. ^^;;;;
Edit: Damn, I reread the last chapter to refresh things as well, and I even made myself almost cry. :lol: Between the events, and thinking of what it all means and how this story has been in my head for so long... It really is true that I don't think there's anyway I could forget this story due to everything I put into it. Anyway. Don't think I'll get the chance to write more today, but hopefully will tomorrow. :heart: Just wanted to give a little something to you guys again...
I also realized while reading that I had been writing in a style that was pretty solemn, or aloof, or severe, almost as bad as the nobles in my Fujiwara fic. :lol: I'll try to lighten it a bit from now on, which shouldn't be hard considering the plot is at a huge turning point right now anyway, so maybe even some new readers might be attracted a bit again. ^^; That would be really nice... Plus, maybe make it a bit more palatable for the rest of you. ;)
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I am EXCITE! New chappie on the way!!! :cow:
Your fics really pull me in, I can't help but comment on them. :) I should go and comment on the Fukuoka Yankii fic soon too. That chapter was quite interesting. Can't wait for the next installment!!!
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Gosh, I did reread it, though I didn't comment like I said I would. At least, I don't think I did my massive quotes I seem to remember promising :lol: . Yeah, that's probably not going to happen, but to make up for it, I'll put more effort into commenting on the next chapter of this! Cross my heart and all that jazz.
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I am a dork... I was re-reading the latest Fukuoka Yankii chapter so as to comment on it, and I started thinking "I wonder where Airi will show up? If she comes into this fic and gets close to Reina (as it looks like Miya will be close with Reina), Aa! could be together in this fic!" Then I paused and a lightbulb turned on over my head... "Wait a minute!! Reina, Miya and Airi are already together in CoT and Sword & the Dove!" Then I did a total facepalm.
How did it take me over 3 years to come to this realization? :sweatdrop: XD
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yups :on cny1:.....i love the MiyaAirri one-shot! :shy2: :shy2: :shy2: and i say MOAR! :onionwhip: :onionwhip: :onionwhip:
When's the update...author-san! :on ksweat: :on ksweat: :on ksweat:
I'll wait....te-hee :on drink:
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eeehhh~?! new chappie on the way????
YES YES YES!
we definitely need that author-san
you hung us waiting in such excitement. the last one was really...
well every chapter is. you never failed us to be excited by the end of the read.
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Ah, thanks for checking it out again here you guys! :D Sorry I haven't gotten an update out yet - my mind has been generally focused on buying a car the last couple weeks (which I did over the weekend!), and now work's getting busier. >_< Still, like I said I've started, so it'll still come before long, and I promise it will be epic!!!!!
...Well, ok, so I can't guarantee something like that :P but I do hope it keeps this story at a high level, if maybe a bit more approachable to new readers, since I really want it to be great. :)
ayase: Glad you enjoyed the MiyAiri! :D There will hopefully be much more!!
maiZe: I don't know if I ever really thought of Aa! being together here either :lol: but as for those three... they're going to have just a bit of a rough time in the coming chapter... :ph43r:
Thanks for the :heart: :)
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*pokes head out of lurkdom*
Darn it! I thought you updated. :mon sigh:
Update soon so I can start giving you walls of quotes and monkeys here. :mon prayer:
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Okay, after all this time, I finally have the next chapter ready for you. I suppose 2 updates in a year isn't too bad, eh? >.>
As you read you might realize what I mean, but this one was just hard to get in the right mood for... It was tough, though hopefully will get easier for the most part from now on. Many things about this fic are just hard though. :) Anyway, enough talk after so long. Enjoy :hearT:
Chapter 12
Airi’s eyes opened slowly and reluctantly, and she became conscious of a rocking motion. Her mind drifted back subconsciously to long ago when her mother rocked her in her arms, but as she crawled her way back into the present reality she began to feel sensations that were quite different.
Sitting up suddenly, she hugged her arms tightly around her as she shivered. She realized she sat in a few centimeters of water, her skirt plastered down against her thighs. After a moment she came to recognize the rocking motions she felt as caused by a boat of some kind, though she was in a dark, dank compartment with walls that seemed almost to close in on her. As the vessel rocked and rolled, the wooden structure that surrounded them creaked and groaned like an old forest battling against winds which heralded an incoming typhoon.
“I told you it was about time for her to wake up,” came a low voice from the side through the sound of the wood and the waves, and she squinted to see a small form huddled up against one of the paneled walls, not even a pace away from her.
“Reina?” she asked in a weak voice, and started to crawl toward the voice. She hadn’t thought her surroundings through yet however, and as her hands plopped into the water, they dug into what felt like sand beneath them.
“It’s ballast,” the voice ahead of her said, and it was followed by a nervous giggle. “They stuck us into the bowels of the ship where there’s nothing but tiny compartments and sand and water. Since they threw us in here I haven’t been able to get it out of my hair.”
“It is you, Reina!” Airi said now with blooming delight, and despite the muck below her, made it the short distance to hug the girl.
“Hey now,” the other said, pulling away and sliding up the wall as if to stand. “None of that. I may not be clean, but I’ve recovered a bit from the mess you are right now. Besides, I wasn’t the one watching over your scrawny ass since we got thrown in here.”
Airi blinked uncomprehendingly at the girl before following her eyes to another behind her who was sitting with legs crossed on a small mound of sand exposed from the bilge. From her position, it looked like she must have had Airi’s head in her lap before she woke.
“Miya!!!” she cried, grinning dumbly, and splashed back into the water again.
“Kids…” Reina grumbled, but Airi continued over to hug Miyabi tightly around the waist. This girl didn’t care.
“I thought I’d lost you…” she mourned, snuggling into her stomach.
She felt a hand begin stroking her hair, and the girl sighed above her. Looking up, she caught her first good look at the other’s dirty face. “Wh-where are we?”
“Finally a sensible thing to say,” Reina said behind her, stretching her legs as if she hadn’t done so for a while.
“We’re on some kind of Chinese junk,” Miyabi replied, her first words since Airi woke. “We’ve been sailing maybe a day now. You’ve been out since being taken from Seishin on our trip overland. They brought us to Niigata, where this ship was waiting for us. I can’t believe they could just kidnap Japanese citizens like that, but I guess they do a good job of being subtle.”
“Who’s ‘they’?”
“Chun and Lin,” Reina intoned in a dark voice. “Those Chinese exchange students. Along with some others they apparently met up with, of course.” Her gaze drifted up to the ceiling. “I swear, when I get my hands on them again…”
“It seems they’re in the compartment above us,” Miyabi explained quietly. “We haven’t seen them, of course. Or anyone else. They haven’t even brought us food or anything.” As if to emphasize her point, her stomach growled forlornly.
“How long have you been awake?” she asked the girl, then fell once again into the stupid grin. “Miya… You can’t imagine how happy I am to see you.”
The other smiled weakly back. “I just wish it was under better circumstances. Reina woke sometime during the overland trip. Apparently they had us kept in the back of a curtained van. I woke about a day later – just before we left Niigata port.”
Airi pondered a moment. “We were each kidnapped a day apart.”
Miyabi nodded in understanding.
“So you knew?” Reina asked, and Airi heard splashing as the girl stumbled toward them. “You knew we were gone, and didn’t do anything about it!?” Just before she reached them, she slipped in the sand and fell to her knees. As the water splashed on her clothes again she glanced down in resignation. “I had just felt a little bit clean for what seemed the first time in days…”
“We tried,” Airi stated meaningfully, pulling the girl’s eyes back up to her own. Her face softened. “I’m sorry though, Reina. We didn’t realize you were gone right away, so we didn’t begin to search until the day I…” She trailed off as memories of those last moments began to return to her.
“The others were easy enough; no real friends… so much time spent alone… You’d almost feel sorry for them.”
“Maimi…”
Stifling a sob that rose within her throat, she gazed sadly at Reina before turning her eyes to Miyabi.
“I’m so sorry…” she said, and Miyabi narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “We’d all been letting you become so lonely.” She glanced up to Reina. “Both of you.”
Reina averted her eyes awkwardly, but Miyabi turned her face toward her with fingers to her chin. “I wasn’t lonely,” she said with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Rii-chan,” Airi said, understanding, and smiled. The girl nodded.
“Aww, isn’t that nice. Both of you found little girlfriends.”
Despite Reina’s tone, Airi noticed a haunted look in her eyes when she caught them again.
“Come here,” Airi said, but Reina stared back at her confused. Seeing the look, Airi pushed herself up on wobbly legs, checking her balance quickly before turning to the girl and enveloping her in a tight hug. Reina stiffened immediately, and even tried to pull away, but Airi held her fast.
Eventually she pulled away enough to look down into the girl’s face. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to us,” she said, “But no matter what it is, we need to stay strong together. That’s the only way we’ll be able to overcome it.”
“Well… as to that…” Reina began a bit uncomfortably.
Airi felt Miyabi stand up behind her. “I overheard some of them talking before we were brought down here.”
“Thrown,” Reina corrected, but Miyabi just returned an even gaze. “Just trying to give the girl the right details,” she defended, shrugging.
“They talked about taking us to Ch’ongjin.” When Airi stared at her blankly, she continued, “It’s a provincial capital in extreme northern North Korea.”
“I suppose we have to just trust what she says,” Reina added, evaluating Miyabi skeptically. “They were talking in Chinese or Korean or somethin’. I couldn’t catch a word.”
“Your powers?” Airi asked, and Miyabi nodded. “But wait. You didn’t know what I was thinking a minute ago…”
Miyabi shook her head.
“It’s those damn Chinks,” Reina growled.
Airi spun around, fists on her hips. “You will not use words like that, Reina Tanaka!”
Reina’s eyes widened in shock at her tone. “Do you even realize what they’ve done to us here?”
Airi’s face steeled. “Letting yourself fall to that level will not accomplish anything.” She glanced up at Miyabi, as if she was looking for support but didn’t necessarily need it. “They are still people, no matter how misled they might be.”
Miyabi gazed into her eyes, a thoughtful expression on her face.
“All that religious stuff must really be getting to her head…” Reina grumbled.
“She’s right about our abilities though,” Miyabi said, bringing it back to Airi’s questions. “I believe one or both of the girls who brought us here are staying just above us, maintaining whatever spell it is that cuts us off from them.”
Without a thought, at her words Airi let her focus fall inward and opened herself up, but again found nothing just like what she remembered before blacking out in the swamp. A little knot of terror formed in her stomach, and she looked at the walls, which somehow seemed to press tighter around them than before. Laying a hand on one, she slapped lightly against it.
“I feel my strength is still here,” she commented. “We should be able to just break through these walls.”
“To what effect?” Reina asked, crouching down again beside them in the cramped quarters. She seemed to have a hard time keeping her balance as the boat rocked around them. “We’re surrounded by the sea, unless you fancy swimming for a few days. If we tried to take over the ship I’m sure they’d have something to use against us.”
Airi looked from one girl to the other.
“Don’t think I haven’t already thought of that?” Reina asked sarcastically. “I certainly don’t like being caught up in this… chicken coop.”
“Chickens can still see the sky,” Miyabi commented quietly, and the mood in the room turned solemn again until Airi’s stomach grumbled.
“So are they just going to let us starve to death in here?” she asked, rubbing at it.
“If they wanted to kill us, they’d have done it already,” Miyabi replied wearily. “What I do know is that they want us to hurt. I’m sure they’ll eventually give us just what we need to survive.”
Reina barked out a laugh. “Well they’d better give us something soon then. All of us are so tiny we don’t have much extra to live on.”
“I’m sure they will,” Airi said with certainty. They had to… She was not going to die in this place.
“There is the one good thing, I think,” Miyabi commented, her eyes drifting to the ceiling. “Even though I’m cut off now, I don’t think they counted on me remembering so much from before. I wonder if that means they don’t think we know where we are or where we’re headed.”
“If that’s gonna do us any good…” Reina said, sighing as she lay back uncomfortably against the wall after dropping down onto a pile of sand rising barely above the water.
“We just have to…” Airi began, then fell silent as she let herself really feel where she was right now. She basically sat in the stagnant water that surrounded them, a chill running up her spine at the thought, causing her teeth to chatter slightly. She hugged herself as she looked at the walls, closer now, dark shadows in the corners foreboding despite tiny slivers of light coming in through cracks around what must have been the hatch in the ceiling and other places around them.
Her joy at seeing her sisters again faded as she knew although they were alive, they were certainly not well, and she wasn’t either. A light gnawing of despair grew a bit larger inside her, and she felt herself slump against Miyabi’s leg behind her.
“We’re still alive…” she murmured, in a voice she intended to be more reassuring than she was sure it came out. She hadn’t realized until now how much she’d come to count on her powers, that sense of superiority and omnipotence which made her feel that there was nothing she would face again that she couldn’t overcome.
But now she was here, sitting in the fetid water in the hull of a boat that was taking them to what would surely be enemy territory.
“Why do you think they’re taking us to North Korea…?” she pondered, hardly realizing she spoke aloud.
“I’m sure it isn’t for anything good,” Reina mumbled in reply. “If their soldiers get their hands on us…” Airi felt her shudder in the dimness. “I don’t wanna think about what they might do to cute Japanese girls like ourselves.”
Airi felt a faint urge to nudge Reina’s political correctness again, but it faded as she wondered if the girl might not have a point. Someone threw them down here, so who knows what else they might do?
“I believe it’s a stopping point for them to take us the rest of the way overland to China,” Miyabi said quietly, and into the silence surrounding her. “They don’t want to stay on the open sea longer than they have to, and within the People’s Republics I’m sure they’ll be able to hide us away from anyone who might try to look for us.”
Silence for another minute until Airi finally heard Reina say, “…You’re really encouraging, you know that.”
“As long as we’re together,” Airi said, feeling the coldness, the wetness, the darkness, the oppressiveness of it altogether pressing into her, “We’ll find a way. We will.”
Then she wrapped her arms around Miyabi’s leg to hug it tightly, and laid her head once again into the girl’s lap, her eyes closing to only more dark as the weakness overcame her. “We will…”
…
She found herself running through the marsh, the sounds of crickets around her and the night black except for occasional twinkling of stars through the canopy above her.
“Maimi!” she cried in an ethereal voice as she ran down the path, her shoes squelching in the peat beneath them. She could see the girl’s figure fluttering infrequently through breaks in the trees, though it as well almost seemed as ethereal as her own voice.
She didn’t know why Maimi was apart from her, or why she was chasing after her, but she knew she had to find her.
“Maimi!” she cried again, trying to run harder, but the girl only seemed to be getting farther and farther ahead of her. She wondered why that was. Maimi was always the better runner…
Before long she realized she’d lost her, and she slowed to a walk. Tears welled up in her eyes. She needed to find Maimi. She didn’t know why, but it seemed like it was the most important thing in the world.
She loved her.
That’s right… why did she need any more of an excuse than that?
But now she’d lost her.
She began to slow her walk further as her surroundings became somehow more uncertain. It seemed like it was becoming even darker; now the light rarely even showed through the cracks above. Becoming quickly more and more paranoid, she glanced anxiously into the forest around her. At some point all the noises of the insects and animals had stopped.
She gasped, halting, as she thought she glimpsed a face flash through the trees to her left. It was closer than Maimi had been… and it definitely was not Maimi.
A flash to her right caused her to swing her head around in that direction.
“Hello?” she called, her voice sounding hollow in her head. “Who’s out there?”
“Airi…” called a voice from the mist. It seemed like she’d heard voices like that before, but she couldn’t recall where. What she did know was that it must be a bad omen.
“Who is it?” she called again, but to no response.
Her anxiety reaching a peak, she tried to step forward again, but found her feet unable to move. Looking down into the darkness below her waist, she tried lifting a foot again only to hear a soft squelching noise. Great. Now she was stuck in the bog.
“Help!” she cried, knowing there was no one out there to rescue her. There were those faces, but at just the thought a chill ran through her. She didn’t know who they were, but she was certain she did not want help from them.
She didn’t see them again, though the bog wouldn’t release her feet. Struggling against it, it felt like the world was getting darker in her anguish. The Sun seemed so very far away right now.
Darkness…
“Help…!”
“Help… help…” she muttered, and was shaken awake. When she opened her eyes though, the darkness did not go away.
“Maimi!” she cried out, flailing her arms frantically. She felt her knuckles hit something, and a girl swore under her breath.
“Find something to shut her up with!” the girl growled again, and Airi felt arms encircle tightly around her.
“Maimi…” Airi cried, hugging her savior tightly as well. Almost immediately though, her nose twitched as she realized something was different. “No…” she said, and memory began returning to her. “Miya…”
“Shh…” Miyabi said. “You were dreaming. Just go back to sleep. It’s night now.”
“I’m sorry…” Airi apologized, still sobbing slightly. “I’m being so stupid. You shouldn’t need to comfort me…”
“You’re right,” the other voice, which she now recognized to be Reina’s, said through the dark. “You’re being stupid. You’re lucky she’s here, cause I wouldn’t bother taking care of a kid here. Not when I… when I…”
“I’m sorry,” Airi repeated again, pressing her face into Miyabi’s chest.
She heard Reina sigh. “Just keep her quiet.”
…
Some time later – Airi had no clue how long, since time seemed meaningless here aside from the slivers of light which blessedly came through the cracks during the day – she still lay in Miyabi’s arms, her head pressed to her chest as she felt the other’s even breathing. Soft, slow breathing from behind her as well indicated that Reina was probably asleep now too, even though she could see absolutely nothing in pitch blackness. It must be night again.
“Miya…” she whispered. Despite the girl’s comforting, she hadn’t been able to fall back to sleep. “Are you awake?”
A few more short breaths against her ear, and then a weary “Yes.”
“How… how long do you suppose it is until we get where they’re taking us?” At this point, North Korea or the island closest to Hell seemed better than where they were right now. Her stomach gnawed at her; even if they did want to keep them alive, feeding them apparently didn’t fall into the category of what they thought of as a “necessity”. Airi had to struggle once again to resist the urge to dunk her face in the water below them to take what would likely be a poisonous drink. At least it was water…
“I don’t know,” came the wooden response.
Airi picked at the girl’s damp clothing, her starved mind trying to form some coherent thought. “Why are they doing this to us? What have we done to them?”
She’d thought before of how she’d gotten so used to her powers, but now began to think that it might be better had she never come upon them. She felt a small yearning in the void once again to be just a normal schoolgirl, without a care in the world except for getting to class on time, and maybe trying to catch the eye of that cute upperclassman she had a crush on.
Maimi… the thought came unbidden to her.
“I don’t know,” someone said.
“Huh?” she murmured, her mind wandering in the mire.
“I guess they felt we were a threat somehow.”
A threat? What was the girl talking about? What…
That’s right. She’d asked a question. She wondered how much longer she could go without food before she’d completely lose her mind.
“But Jun and Lin knew us,” she protested vacantly. “They fought with us. They know we wouldn’t do anything to threaten them, or China, or anyone else. I just want everyone to be happy.”
The other girl was silent a moment before responding. “You’re right Airin, they knew us. They knew our history. We weren’t part of the Circle, but they acted as if they wanted to take over the world while under the influence of the demons. Yeah we fought against them, but maybe it’s not a big leap for someone who’s not us to believe we might turn out the same way once we took control of things more, and well, we kind of did back at Seishin.”
“But we’re not them. And we didn’t take any control either,” Airi commented sleepily. “Ai-chan and Gaki-san became the heads of Seishin. We were just students…”
“Students who hosted government officials and envoys from the Emperor? Students who didn’t go to class or do anything other than inhabit the building school leaders used to? I guess it’s true those without power are afraid of those who have it.”
“But the other girls at Seishin weren’t afraid of us…” Airi yawned. “And they were the ones who were closest to us all the time.”
“With all that time you spent trying to go to class and mingle with the other students, you didn’t realize what they actually thought of you?” Miyabi asked gently, patting her hair.
“I don’t need soothing…” Airi mumbled, brushing away the hand. “I’m just… tired…”
The cold of the water now numbing her extremities, she let her head fall once again into Miyabi’s lap, wrapping her arms around the other girl’s waist and snuggling in gently. The dampness made her think of a summer’s day at the beach; her clothes plastered to her body feeling almost as if they weren’t there reminded her of her swimsuit. That’s right. She was enjoying a day at the beach with Miya. Miya held her as she lay in the sand with the waves brushing against her legs at regular intervals. It was so peaceful… calming…
“Tell me when it’s time to go home…” she mumbled vacantly. Then, as she felt her hair being brushed weakly again, she fell asleep.
…
“Airi,” Miyabi said, bringing her halfway out of her slumber. She was being shaken gently.
“Mou…” Airi murmured. “Is it time to go?” she asked blearily.
“Yes,” came the response. “I think it is.”
“Just shake her as much as you need to,” someone else said, and after a moment Airi recognized it as Reina. Why was she there at the beach with them? Was Chisa here too? “I doubt she’ll want to be half-awake when they come for us. That is, if they haven’t forgotten us down here.”
“They haven’t,” Miyabi replied with certainty.
As Airi started becoming fully awake now, she blinked groggily up in the dimness at Reina’s face. The girl was giving Miyabi a sidelong glance. Why was the beach so dim? And why did she hear the creaking of wood around them? There were some distant noises and shouts from above as well, but she couldn’t make them out.
“Why do you have to be so serious all the time anyway, ne? I don’t remember you like that as much before. And I don’t mean just now.”
“People change, Reina,” Miyabi replied bitterly. “If you looked closer though, you might not find me all that different.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Reina muttered.
“Where’s the beach?” Airi asked, raising her head from the warm lap. Away from it though, she realized that the rest of her was most definitely not warm in almost any fashion. It seemed something was missing too, but she couldn’t put a finger on what exactly it was.
This time Reina gave her the sidelong glance. “Is she for real?” she asked, the question apparently intended for Miyabi.
“Give the girl a break,” Miyabi replied. “She just woke up. Was probably dreaming. I wish I had dreams like that here.”
“Dream…?” Airi asked again groggily, to a snort from Reina. Suddenly she realized what was missing. They were not moving. She’d gotten used to a slow rock back and forth, as if they were riding on the waves or something. Wait… she was on a boat. Her brief memories after the past days slowly trickled back into her, and she lost her breath.
She didn’t have time to think more though, as suddenly they heard steps on the deck above them, mostly a shuffling back and forth, and almost a jumping as if someone was coming down from a ladder. The conversation from above also slowly became audible to them.
“…seriously expect me to believe you have them here? In this junk?” came a gruff man’s voice. It sounded like Korean, which was basically indecipherable to Airi, but she glanced up at Miyabi. The girl shook her head quickly, her gaze fixed on the ceiling.
Softer steps, as if someone was just rising from being seated. “Ah. I take it you are the commander of the garrison at this port?” This sounded like a young woman, and was somehow familiar to Airi.
“No,” came the short reply. “I’m Corporal Koh, one of the Ch’ongjin port regiment’s cargo inspectors. I tell you though, this is one of the strangest vessels I’ve ever come across. And the things I heard above…”
“Please send for your commander,” the girl replied firmly. “This is a top-security shipment ordered by the Beijing Magister’s office itself. If we’re here, we must disembark carefully and without delay.” Then there was a shuffle of papers as if the girl was proffering documents proving what she just addressed.
It was silent a moment as the Corporal apparently reviewed what he was offered.
“By the Father…” he said finally, voice thick with disbelief. “I’ve never seen anything like this. The Captain would have been informed of a landing as odd as this, but I’m going to have to confirm the cargo before proceeding. That goes doubly if any special treatment might be needed.”
They heard footsteps again, and this time it looked as if they were headed in the direction of the trap door above them outlined for the first time by a brighter light from the compartment above. Airi felt Miyabi tense beside her, and Reina crouched down warily, viper’s gaze fixed on the hatch as if she was prepared to spring out at any moment.
“Is he headed here?” the girl hissed quietly. “I can’t understand a thing, but…”
“Reina!” Miyabi warned, her only response.
“I warn you – don’t go down there alone,” another girl said in a weary voice. Airi’s exhausted and weakened mind was still trying to identify the voices, but she suddenly realized something. Whoever they were, they didn’t appear to have come down into the compartment with the men she supposed were soldiers. Had they been stuck in there the whole time just like they were? This was the first time they’d seen bright light coming from just above, so they appeared to be almost as much captives as they were. Then again, they probably weren’t mired in ballast and leakage like Airi and the others.
Thoughts flew from her mind though as the hatch rattled, and she squeezed her eyes shut as it was pulled up and light flooded through.
“Why, there’s no ladder here,” the man said, much louder now. “Private, bring the ladder from the hatch above, and shout up for them to find another.
“Did you not even check on your cargo the way here?” he asked after peering down through the hatch. “There was no ladder down to these crew’s quarters, and now not one down to the hold either?”
“It was meant to be as secure as possible,” one of the girls responded, still sounding tired. “We take no risks.”
“Stupid bitches…” the man muttered as a loud clattering came from above, and when Airi finally opened her eyes to a slit, she saw what looked like a ladder being thrust down into the hatch.
“I’ll warn you one last time…” the girl who hadn’t warned them yet said acidly, but boots appeared through the hatch and the man began crawling down the ladder.
“Reina…” Miyabi warned softly again, only for their ears, as the man’s full figure came into view. It looked like he carried an assault rifle awkwardly as he climbed, but it was hard for Airi to tell as the shadow was hardly more than a blob in the glaring light.
When the man’s feet fell into the standing water below, he swore as he looked down, choosing his step carefully. Then he held his weapon at the ready as he squinted around the cramped area. For eyes not nearly blinded by the light, surely he could see the three still forms low against the ballast.
“I’ll be damned,” he said. “It is three girls.” Airi caught slight movement from Reina out of the corner of her eye, her eyes still fixed as if on prey. She wondered how long it would be before this viper struck.
“Private!” he called back through the hatch. “Take those two up there topside for questioning. I’ll need those damn papers confirmed somehow before we decide how to proceed.”
“We will stay—” one of the girls above began, but her words were drowned out as the man’s momentary shift of attention let loose chaos below.
“No!” Miyabi cried, audible to everyone this time, as Reina sprang from her crouch like lightning. The man barely had time to glance back down before she was upon him. Sending the weapon flying from his hand with a hard swipe of her forearm, she fisted him in the stomach. While barely beginning to double over, she followed by ramming a shoulder into his chest. The incredible force of the blow sent him crashing through the wall behind, opening an uneven hole into the similarly dim compartment beyond.
“Damn,” Reina said, breathing hard in the exertion. She was standing, but just barely, as she swayed in fatigue after expending what must have been the last of her energy. “Too much to hope that would have been the side of the boat, I suppose.” Caving into the exhaustion, she collapsed to her knees. “Airi, grab the gun!”
Airi blinked around, trying to locate it, and saw it half-submerged just past her feet. She reached for it, but handled it only awkwardly. “How the heck am I supposed to know how to use one of these things?”
“Just point at one of them and pull the trigger!” Reina shot gruffly, holding her side now. “Or point it at the damn wall! One of these has eventually gotta lead outside…”
Airi now became aware though of rustling above, as if someone was rushing to the hatch.
“No!” one of the girls commanded, and the sound of the heavy boots stopped. “Do you want to end up like your Corporal? We warned you those girls aren’t to be trifled with.”
Then they heard softer steps near the hatch, Reina hissing, “Point it at the opening! It’s time one of those bitches got what she…”
She trailed off as the ladder was pulled up quickly, cutting off the only real way up or down.
“Now now,” came the voice from above, but now in Japanese. “None of that.” Suddenly the gun became scorching in Airi’s hands, and she shrieked before dropping it to hiss steaming in the water below. She would have been more thankful at it just missing her bare leg if she hadn’t been so shocked at her burning hands.
“Give me that,” the girl above said, again in Korean, and there was a shuffle before a small-looking girl jumped down nimbly with a small splash into their compartment.
Reina shot up unsteadily to face the threat, but the girl swiped the side of her face with the weapon she held, apparently borrowed from one of the soldiers above, and Reina fell into a heap at her feet.
“Reina!” Airi cried, and forgetting about her hands tried to push herself up before screaming at the harsh sting of the grainy sand pressing against her burns. Before she collapsed herself though, she felt Miyabi’s arms wrap around her and pull her tightly against her chest.
“Just hold them in the water,” the girl advised her through her tears at the pain. “It’ll sting at first, but will feel better before you know it.”
When Airi finally could gather herself to look up, she saw the girl standing stolidly above them, gun pointed at their faces. Reina still lay in a heap at her feet. Seeing Airi come back to awareness though, she kicked the still form harshly, rolling her back against the two of them. Airi held another cry at seeing Reina filthy from the water, the side of her face red with blood.
“Now,” the girl informed them coldly. “There’ll be no more of those games, understood? Maybe you could get in one good push like she did, but you don’t have the energy for more after five days down here, do you? Then Chun up there, or maybe more of the nice men with guns, would make you wish to be in her shoes.” She gestured to Reina at the last.
“Is one of you assholes ready to fetch your Captain yet?” she called up. Two young faces were peering anxiously into the hatch, at the girls but also lingering on the fresh hole in the compartment wall, the sides of which dripped with blood. At the girl’s words they disappeared, and from the sound of it even tried jumping up into the compartment further above. The replacement ladder apparently hadn’t arrived yet.
…
Airi kept her eyes to slits as they were pulled up the stairs into daylight atop the boat, still not accustomed to the ever-increasing light. Her hands, which were now tied tightly behind her with thick docking rope, throbbed in pain but at least felt better than when she first dropped the magically scalding weapon. Miyabi had been right – the water did help dull the injury. She knew the relief wouldn’t last forever though.
They were escorted by two steel-muscled soldiers each, Reina only held up as she was still unconscious, between solid lines of other armed and ready soldiers that continued all the way down onto the dock. Leading the way was the man who back down in their prison Miyabi had whispered to her was the Captain; she couldn’t see the two Chinese girls, their real escorts, though she knew they trailed just behind.
The spectacle of three small, grubby and battered-looking girls apparently being the focus of such an elaborate display caught the attention of other sailors and dockworkers spread out across the piers, though most did their best to keep their heads mostly lowered and look like they were not interested.
Airi almost sighed when they reached solid land again, and they were ushered to just in front of what looked oddly like a barracks among the various port buildings. Inside, more soldiers peered out, though most of the ones outside still stood stiffly at attention. Apparently word of what happened to the Corporal had spread quickly.
Finally the Captain halted, speaking softly to one of his subordinates. After he was finished, the subordinate took off running into the barracks. Airi realized the three of them were now being lined up as if for inspection, and he turned toward them for the first time since seeing them in their prison back on the ship.
He had a face which looked like it was carved out of one of the planks of wood that made up the pier, and his expression was stony and full of inexplicable hatred.
“So these are the Japanese goddesses reborn, eh?” He muttered, then reached to cup Miyabi’s chin in a finger for closer inspection. “Don’t look all that high and mighty to me,” he quipped to chuckles from the surrounding soldiers, letting her go roughly.
“What do you want with us?” Airi asked, pulling what energy she still had together, though her blistered hands had taken most of what was left.
The man’s attention turned to her. “So are you the leader of these whelps?” he chided in broken Japanese. “I heard one was even supposed to be the Daughter of the Sun.” He gestured to the sky. “Too bad it’s cloudy today, eh?”
He then glanced left and right to the soldiers surrounding him, straightening even more at the show of power their support seemed to give him.
“As for what we want with you, I’m sad to say you will not be in our hands for long. You’re to be stuffed on a train to Beijing as soon as we can get you to the station. A shame I can’t even present you to the General. Still, it’d be too bad if we couldn’t leave you with a little remembrance of us…”
Then he looked to Reina, held up limply be the soldiers at her sides, then to Miyabi, who stared stubbornly forward, and last back to Airi, who gazed back challengingly into his eyes. “Say hi to the Chinese authorities for me, Sun princess,” he said scathingly, and spit in her face.
“You get away from her, you slimy bastard!” Miyabi shouted out suddenly as Airi froze in shock at the sticky wetness on her face. It was a miracle none of it got into her eyes.
She heard struggling to her side as Miyabi tried to back up her threat, breaking free of one guard and kneeing the other in the crotch before others rushed up to detain her and guns pointed into her face from all around. She went limp at the quickly hopeless situation, her eyes down, but the Captain stepped over to her and slugged her hard with his fist, saying “Can’t deny your insults are cute, young lady,” to more laughter from those around them.
Airi almost cried out as Miyabi’s head snapped hard to the side, but fell into coughing and spitting of her own as some of the man’s insult dripped between her lips. For the Captain’s part, he just spun around and waved them away, disappearing into the barracks as well.
When she resigned herself to just feeling completely grossed-out, Airi turned to see Miyabi still standing under her own power, though with an ugly bruise on her jaw. Thank you, Miya… she thought sadly as they were shoved roughly after the Captain.
…
“They didn’t even leave us alone this time, did they?” Reina asked after she finally woke up, rubbing her busted cheek tenderly with hands bound in front of her as she eyed the two armed soldiers to either side of the door at the end of the train car. The girl Airi had finally remembered as Lin sat on a trunk just in front of the soldiers. “Guess I showed them what the Skulls are really all about.”
“I hope you don’t get it in your mind to be as foolish from now on,” Miyabi said idly from beside Airi.
“Foolish? Ah, I was just playin’ around a little,” Reina responded, cracking her knuckles and now ignoring her face as if it wasn’t half swelled up.
Miyabi shook her head at the other’s lightness, but Airi caught a faint smile on her lips as well.
“There’s food,” Airi said, gesturing down with her own bound hands at the bowls of some kind of rice porridge set on the floor below them. “It’s not much, but who knows when they’ll be gracious enough to give us any more. You need your strength back if you’re gonna attack anyone else.”
Reina gave her a long look before plopping down in front of the plate and staring at it. “I suppose it’ll be hard to use chopsticks with my hands like this. If we could find any chopsticks, that is.”
“I think they want us to eat like pigs,” Miyabi said darkly.
“Well hey, who’s to deny them the pleasure then!” Reina commented cheerfully, and leaned down to stick her face into the bowl. After seemingly managing to get some of it down, she looked up toward the people at the door with her messy face, grinning like an idiot. “MMM…” she moaned gleefully. By the expressions of the guards, you’d think none of them even existed. Lin only glanced blandly back as if to just make sure they weren’t causing any trouble.
“I take it we’re on the train to China then?” Reina asked after another bite, still smiling at the warily peering Lin.
“Yeah,” Airi said, never ceasing to be amazed by the former Skull Captain. Despite everything, she almost felt herself grin as well. If she was going to go through torture like this, not that she’d wish it on even her worst enemies, but she wasn’t sure who she’d rather have with her after all they’d been through. Their presences were just… comforting. She thought of Maimi, but new that was different, since when she was around her girlfriend she just felt…
Lowering her eyes, she stifled a blush.
“I suppose you think you’re getting back at us and just going to enjoy yourselves from here on out, don’t you?” she heard Lin say from across the car, and glanced up to see the girl on her feet after taking a step toward them.
“Oh don’t get the wrong idea,” Reina replied lightly. “I’d much rather throw this bowl through your thick Chinese skull and escape back to Japan. I’m just guessing you’re not leaving that as much of an option.”
“Why do you feel so threatened by us?” Miyabi asked, and Reina sighed at her serious tone. Airi understood though, because this was the first time all three of them were actually able to face their real captors.
Lin studied them a moment before answering. “I can’t answer that, even if I wanted to. These directives come from far above either me or Chun – we’re just agents sent to accomplish a task.”
“But you know us!” Airi interjected finally. “You fought with us against the Circle… You know we’re not threatening to anyone.”
“That’s not for me to decide,” Lin replied stonily.
“So that’s it?” Miyabi asked, heat rising in her voice. Airi didn’t know if it was being disconnected from her powers so long, or if it was just desperation at what their last days had been like, but she seemed to have regained some of her old passion. “You’re the pawn just doing nothing more than you’re told, no matter your personal feelings? The three of us may be prisoners, beaten and half-starved, but despite all that, you’re the one I pity.”
Airi and Reina were quiet at the girl’s words, and Lin’s face tightened, but she wasn’t pressed into action. “I do only the will of the People,” she replied finally, and went back to her seat. “But since we did fight together, I’ll warn you to prepare: what you’ve experienced so far has been a cakewalk compared to what will happen when you’re turned over to the authorities in Beijing. If I were you, I’d get some sleep here while you still can.”
“Sleep seems to be all we do anymore since we don’t really have the energy for anything else…” Reina mumbled, but Airi and Miyabi exchanged a look. For Airi’s part, she was wondering if she might hope this train ride would never end.
…
The train arrived, after switching around several tracks, at an underground station in what must have been the middle of Beijing. It had the feel of a city all around, seeping in through the walls, even though the only contact with it would have been through the air ducts.
Lin and Chun ushered them out of the car, but this time there were no lines of soldiers awaiting their arrival. Instead, there were just three people – two men and one woman – dressed in formal robes somewhat like kimonos. Them, and one short, stout, graying man in a suit who looked somehow out of place.
“Magister,” Chun and Lin said in unison, bowing to the man. “We’ve brought those of the Ancient Blood, as requested.”
“Are you sure these are the correct three?” the man said, eyeing each of them with a serious wariness – a very much different expression than they remembered from the North Korean Captain.
“As was ordered, we spent months fighting at their sides,” Chun said. “We viewed much of both them and the Heirs, and these three girls – Airi Suzuki, Miyabi Natsuyaki, and Reina Tanaka – are undoubtedly of the True Blood.”
“And they were responsible for the missile too?” the Magister said, hands folded behind his back at the waist as he paced in front of them, inspecting.
“That was Suzuki, Magister,” Lin replied. The man stopped to examine Airi, and in that look she almost felt that her soul was bared.
“Yes…” he said. “I can sense it in them. You, girl,” he said, addressing Airi. “The Sun fills your soul, does it not?” And with his words, Airi felt the burning within her that she’d grown to know and love, the power of the Sun flowing through her once again, that which gave all life.
And then it was gone.
“Yes…” Airi breathed, a tear coming to her eye at losing the incredible feeling after having once again attained it, even just for that brief moment.
“There will be no Sun for you here,” he said coldly, words that felt like just as chill a slap to her face, and stepped back once again. “Take them to their chambers,” he ordered, and the three robed figures stepped forward. “Chun, Lin, please come with me.”
Then, shockingly, the Magister and the two girls disappeared into an elevator, leaving Airi and her sisters alone with the other three Chinese. The train started up again as well, and carried what remained of the soldiers away down the tracks.
The girls scrutinized their new escorts, who seemed aware and watchful of their every move, if not overtly concerned with them.
“Are you kidding me?” Reina asked, glancing around. “They left us alone with you guys? What, are you off to a wedding or something?”
“Who are you?” Miyabi asked, examining their guardians with the utmost caution. Airi tried taking a page from her book to do the same, but found it difficult. She tried reaching within herself for her power again – if it could come back for a moment, perhaps she could bring it back permanently as well.
“The first thing you will learn,” one of the men said, “Is to not attempt to reach for your power.”
Suddenly as Airi was reaching, it felt like something grabbed back at her, and after feeling as if her being began to somehow rip away within her, she screamed in unbearable agony. This was it; she knew now that she was going to die.
Yet even as she began to accept that certainty, the world came back to her, and she found herself on her knees at the platform, Miyabi and Reina both yelling for her as she saw them being pulled away from her in separate directions like helpless dogs.
“Miya…” she moaned. “Reina… No… Don’t leave me…”
Then her vision was filled by the robed man who’d spoken to her before. “That is just a sample of what your life will be from now on,” he said down to her, voice still full of unflappable calm. “Although most of what you will receive will be physical punishment, since that is more easily controlled. If you behave, perhaps your torment will be less.
“Perhaps,” he said faintly, as if just the thought was fleeting. “Now. Come with me.” And he began walking a different direction yet from the others, who had now gone, leaving the two of them alone on the platform beside the echoing tunnels.
Airi stayed on her knees a moment, crying. Her friends were gone, and for perhaps the first time in her life, she felt truly alone. And in the hands of this… man… whose only job appeared to be her torture.
“Do not make me repeat myself,” the man said, speaking over his shoulder without stopping.
Shakily, Airi got to her feet and stumbled after him, her steps echoing through the underground. Much later on, she would look back and say that was finally the point where she truly lost all hope.
-
:farofflook: You have an update!
:fainted: You have an update~
After so long, I'm glad to know what has happened to the girls, but at the same time, wtf China! I wish zombie apocalypse on you! *waves hands*
Poor Airi, she's so innocent, how is she going to deal with pure torture? *imagines all sorts of terrible things* :cool2: :pleeease: :scared: :on freeze: :prayers: :gyaaah:
I wonder if, when they finally escape, will they(Reina) bring down an unholy wrath upon the country? Or will Airi finally lose her innocence totally and completely?
And what about the people at Seishin? Will Ai and Maimi be able to use their powers to find them at all?
Of course, the most important question is, will Takagaki ever make up?! :frustrated:
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Alright! Finally time for a wall of quotes and monkeys. :mon worklate: :mon study:
Sitting up suddenly, she hugged her arms tightly around her as she shivered. She realized she sat in a few centimeters of water, her skirt plastered down against her thighs. After a moment she came to recognize the rocking motions she felt as caused by a boat of some kind, though she was in a dark, dank compartment with walls that seemed almost to close in on her. As the vessel rocked and rolled, the wooden structure that surrounded them creaked and groaned like an old forest battling against winds which heralded an incoming typhoon.
Uuuuggghhh... Claustro :mon barf:.... phobia.... hey, I spelled it right this time! :mon barf:
Airi blinked uncomprehendingly at the girl before following her eyes to another behind her who was sitting with legs crossed on a small mound of sand exposed from the bilge. From her position, it looked like she must have had Airi’s head in her lap before she woke.
:mon inluv: Haven't had any lovely MiyAiri in a while.
“It seems they’re in the compartment above us,” Miyabi explained quietly. “We haven’t seen them, of course. Or anyone else. They haven’t even brought us food or anything.” As if to emphasize her point, her stomach growled forlornly.
:mon cry: That's just....evil... depriving the poor girls of food. They're already sticks, what would they be if they got thinner? I wonder if Jun and Lin are still well-nourished although I'm sure they're probably sleep-deprived. They probably have to constantly keep some kind of spell up to stop the girls from accessing their powers.
“So you knew?” Reina asked, and Airi heard splashing as the girl stumbled toward them. “You knew we were gone, and didn’t do anything about it!?” Just before she reached them, she slipped in the sand and fell to her knees. As the water splashed on her clothes again she glanced down in resignation. “I had just felt a little bit clean for what seemed the first time in days…”
Let's not have to girls get into a fight now. :mon prayer:*prays for a Miya vs. Reina fight*
“Aww, isn’t that nice. Both of you found little girlfriends.”
Despite Reina’s tone, Airi noticed a haunted look in her eyes when she caught them again.
Next time Chisa appears, her lips should be attached to Reina's. :mon innocent:
Reina barked out a laugh. “Well they’d better give us something soon then. All of us are so tiny we don’t have much extra to live on.”
:mon sweat: One of the rare times these girls would be better off if they were actually fat. Oh and I just realized that Reina, the tiniest one of the three, is the one that has been enduring starvation and those crappy conditions the longest. :mon ehh: I don't think she can get any skinnier....
“Maimi!” she cried again, trying to run harder, but the girl only seemed to be getting farther and farther ahead of her. She wondered why that was. Maimi was always the better runner…
Oh no. It's one of those dreams. One of those evil evil dreams where you never get anywhere. :mon tantrum2:
“Help!” she cried, knowing there was no one out there to rescue her. There were those faces, but at just the thought a chill ran through her. She didn’t know who they were, but she was certain she did not want help from them.
“Help… help…” she muttered, and was shaken awake. When she opened her eyes though, the darkness did not go away.
Oddly, this chapter seems so much darker now that I'm reading this during the day. :mon chilly: I hate darkness. :mon ghost: I feel sympathy for Airi. I'm pretty useless if there's a lack of sunlight for more than 2 days in a row. I can't even imagine how horrible it is for her who has the power of the sun emanating from her to be stripped of that warmth.
“Miya…” she whispered. Despite the girl’s comforting, she hadn’t been able to fall back to sleep. “Are you awake?”
A few more short breaths against her ear, and then a weary “Yes.”
:mon tweaker: Has Miya even slept ever since she woke up from being captured?
“With all that time you spent trying to go to class and mingle with the other students, you didn’t realize what they actually thought of you?” Miyabi asked gently, patting her hair.
It sucks to be able to read minds sometimes. Ignorance is bliss, right? Well, Miyabi was already pretty detached from the students even before all the crazy goddess powers showed up since she was a Skull but still...
“Why do you have to be so serious all the time anyway, ne? I don’t remember you like that as much before. And I don’t mean just now.”
“People change, Reina,” Miyabi replied bitterly. “If you looked closer though, you might not find me all that different.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Reina muttered.
Time for a Skull vs. Skull fight?.... :mon yo: Apparently not. Sleep deprivation and starvation sucks the life out of them so I'm actually surprised they still have enough energy to be irritated of each other. Being angry and bitter takes quite a lot of energy.
“Give the girl a break,” Miyabi replied. “She just woke up. Was probably dreaming. I wish I had dreams like that here.”
So she did sleep. Hopefully dreaming about Risako? Although, I kind of doubt it. Anyways...aaaawwww, Airi :mon cute:
They heard footsteps again, and this time it looked as if they were headed in the direction of the trap door above them outlined for the first time by a brighter light from the compartment above. Airi felt Miyabi tense beside her, and Reina crouched down warily, viper’s gaze fixed on the hatch as if she was prepared to spring out at any moment.
Ah crap, Reina is going to pounce and those three don't have a chance at taking down more than a couple guys before they get thrown back. Oh well, *crosses fingers* I'll just hope anyways that they'll somehow make it out.
When Airi finally could gather herself to look up, she saw the girl standing stolidly above them, gun pointed at their faces. Reina still lay in a heap at her feet. Seeing Airi come back to awareness though, she kicked the still form harshly, rolling her back against the two of them. Airi held another cry at seeing Reina filthy from the water, the side of her face red with blood.
:mon sigh: Ah, didn't think you would let them escape that easily.
“You get away from her, you slimy bastard!” Miyabi shouted out suddenly as Airi froze in shock at the sticky wetness on her face. It was a miracle none of it got into her eyes.
:mon scare: Airi's face!! :mon wtfmm: Maimi should at one point or another show up just to burn that captain.
Airi and Reina were quiet at the girl’s words, and Lin’s face tightened, but she wasn’t pressed into action. “I do only the will of the People,” she replied finally, and went back to her seat. “But since we did fight together, I’ll warn you to prepare: what you’ve experienced so far has been a cakewalk compared to what will happen when you’re turned over to the authorities in Beijing. If I were you, I’d get some sleep here while you still can.”
I call for Lin and Jun to rebel against their authorities later on! I want them to join the girls of Seishin in fighting again but I feel like you might kill them off soon. :mon waterworks: Well, this was just wonderful timing. The Chinese version of Ame no Furanai Hoshi just started playing on my playlist.
“Yes…” he said. “I can sense it in them. You, girl,” he said, addressing Airi. “The Sun fills your soul, does it not?” And with his words, Airi felt the burning within her that she’d grown to know and love, the power of the Sun flowing through her once again, that which gave all life.
And then it was gone.
:mon cry: I think this was the darkest moment in the whole chapter. Right now, I'm just wondering exactly what kind of powers this guy has and what the full extents of Lin and Jun's powers are. There's definitely more going on than the girls just being seen as threats. Btw, I'm slightly suspicious of the Japanese government as well for reasons I can't completely recall. Something a couple chapters ago... Probably something about the meeting right before the missile.
Suddenly as Airi was reaching, it felt like something grabbed back at her, and after feeling as if her being began to somehow rip away within her, she screamed in unbearable agony. This was it; she knew now that she was going to die.
I was wrong! :badluck: :err: :gyaaah: :fainted: :depressed: :mon emo: <-- Always goes back to a monkey.
“Miya…” she moaned. “Reina… No… Don’t leave me…”
Then her vision was filled by the robed man who’d spoken to her before. “That is just a sample of what your life will be from now on,” he said down to her, voice still full of unflappable calm. “Although most of what you will receive will be physical punishment, since that is more easily controlled. If you behave, perhaps your torment will be less.
:mon ref: You torture them in so many ways!!! Why torture them though? To make sure they're always too weak to actually do anything?
Now when will Miya's tattoo come back into play... Maybe the tattoo will somehow allow her to have some sort of encounter with Saki. After all, Saki would be her counterpart in powers and such + the tattoo doesn't seem like it's there to allow Miya to access her powers or counter others. I do feel that the girls will either end up having some sort of encounter with the original owners/sources of their powers or else have some sort of connection with each of their counterparts.
Done with the wall of quotes! Hhhhmmm, so will we get to see what's going on back at Seishin in the next chapter and maybe an explanation about what the hell is really going on?
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Hey Rokun, you brought this story back from the dead.....again..... :lol:
I wonder what it truly is that this group of people want Reina/Miya/Airi is is just to hold them to use their powers or do they want to harness the powers of the the gods someway?
All three girls are going through alot but it is Airi who I fear for the most, I just wonder what will happen to this girl if the break her, or perhaps make her snap, going on a rampage??, will Airi ever be the same again, will she turn into something else? as yet things are uncertain...
Seems like Miya is standing u slightly better than everyone else to the tourture and abuse,is this perhaps something to do with her tatto I wonder?....
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when i found out this was a sequel to Circle of Three (of which i only started and finished reading a couple weeks back),
i told my self that i would only read this once all the chapters are up.. but i couldn't hold back any longer.. :nervous :panic:
so read it all. :roll: **clearly patience is a virtue i have yet to acknowledge?! XD
and OhhhhMyGAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! :OMG: :fainted: to that last chapter.. :bow: :thumbsup :twothumbs
actually scratch that... OhhhhhhhMyyyyGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH to the entire fic.. :lol: i think i'm loving the sequel
more than the original.. :yep: :heart:
please don't update twice a year?! ever again.. :gmon tears: but then again if you're too busy i guess it couldn't
be helped.. :( as long as you wont leave your fics unfinished, i'll take what i can get.. :grin:
side note : at one point i was simultaneously reading A Girl's Odyssey, Circle of Three and Berry Beautiful (didn't finished Berry
Beautiful- on hold.. 'cause i'm not [yet] a BK fan ).. i was reading A.G.O. and then when it got 'dark' i jumped to reading C.O.T.
but then that too got 'dark' so i jumped again to B.B. looking for some refuge and what do you know?! i din't get it.. :lol:
from that i noticed your writing tend to go on the 'dark'side :nervous.. and that made me realize that the 'darkside' is also fun to read :ph43r: :twisted:
i'm more of a fluff, romantic comedy kind of reader but you got me converted.. :lol: i enjoy reading your works, definitely a FAN.. :twothumbs :love:
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Guuuh. Another epic chapter!! :OOO
Poor poor girls. T__T
“I’m so sorry…” she said, and Miyabi narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “We’d all been letting you become so lonely.” She glanced up to Reina. “Both of you.”
Reina averted her eyes awkwardly, but Miyabi turned her face toward her with fingers to her chin. “I wasn’t lonely,” she said with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Rii-chan,” Airi said, understanding, and smiled. The girl nodded.
“Aww, isn’t that nice. Both of you found little girlfriends.”
Despite Reina’s tone, Airi noticed a haunted look in her eyes when she caught them again.
“Come here,” Airi said, but Reina stared back at her confused. Seeing the look, Airi pushed herself up on wobbly legs, checking her balance quickly before turning to the girl and enveloping her in a tight hug. Reina stiffened immediately, and even tried to pull away, but Airi held her fast.
Miya/Rii <333. Also, I feel like Airi should speak up and mention Chisa to Reina or something. I don't think I commented on the chapter where Reina was taken, but those few scenes with Reina and Chisa in the stairwells and later in Reina's room were so… sad, I guess. Gonna back track to those moments for a minute (lol wrong chapter to reply on). It's like Chisa has given up on Reina, thinking that Reina won't move past her old ways… I really do hope once they get through this (and hopefully all the Skulls make it through this, 'cause I really want a Miya/Risako reunion. XD - Risako is a Skull now, right? I don't know if she was officially brought into the group), Reina and Chisa can somehow come to an understanding, because for all that Aichan couldn't give Reina what she was looking for, I think Chisa could.
Moving on.. XD I totally understand Reina's continually growing irritation with Airi. It's amazing how spaced out Airi can get. But at the same time, I absolutely love how supportive and caring Miyabi is to Airi through all this. Reina's irritation is worse than usual due to the uncomfortable setting and situation, but Miya's going through the same thing. But then again, Airi and Miya have a lot of history between then, and Miya has always been ridiculously protective of Airi.
Then he looked to Reina, held up limply be the soldiers at her sides, then to Miyabi, who stared stubbornly forward, and last back to Airi, who gazed back challengingly into his eyes. “Say hi to the Chinese authorities for me, Sun princess,” he said scathingly, and spit in her face.
“You get away from her, you slimy bastard!” Miyabi shouted out suddenly as Airi froze in shock at the sticky wetness on her face. It was a miracle none of it got into her eyes.
...
Airi almost cried out as Miyabi’s head snapped hard to the side, but fell into coughing and spitting of her own as some of the man’s insult dripped between her lips. For the Captain’s part, he just spun around and waved them away, disappearing into the barracks as well.
When she resigned herself to just feeling completely grossed-out, Airi turned to see Miyabi still standing under her own power, though with an ugly bruise on her jaw. Thank you, Miya… she thought sadly as they were shoved roughly after the Captain.
Airi's got her own knight in shining armour… <3 Too bad it usually takes serious situations for her to really appreciate it.
So Jun and Lina are doing something to mute Aa!'s powers (maybe I should just refer to them as Aa! from now on, 'cause to say Skulls means more than just Miya, Airi and Reina XD), and that's probably why Miya didn't sense anything strange from them, as they were probably actively blocking Miya from sensing them, right? (Long sentence is long)
“I think they want us to eat like pigs,” Miyabi said darkly.
“Well hey, who’s to deny them the pleasure then!” Reina commented cheerfully, and leaned down to stick her face into the bowl. After seemingly managing to get some of it down, she looked up toward the people at the door with her messy face, grinning like an idiot. “MMM…” she moaned gleefully. By the expressions of the guards, you’d think none of them even existed. Lin only glanced blandly back as if to just make sure they weren’t causing any trouble.
I love how through all of this, Reina is still able to keep her rather screwed up sense of humour, making light of this very bad situation they find themselves in and thus being able to boost the spirits of Airi and Miya even just a little.
And finally, to end this comment with too much Miya gushing XD, BAAWWWWW. They've been separated. Airi's lost all hope… Is it torture time? I wonder how Miya's tattoo is going to come into play to help her through this ordeal, and if it will help her get away from their captors to get Airi and Reina free.
I can't wait for the next chapter!!! I hope it doesn't take 9 months to come, though. XD
Thanks for this one, rokun!! :D
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oh my gawd.. how could you.. how could those soldiers dare to disrespect them!!!!
my emotions were.. raging.. shaking.. just reading it!
it amazes me how i could acquire such emotions just by reading..
it feels so real as you register each words on your brain... and damn it! i wanna punch their faces one by one!!!
thank you so much rokun.. this is such a good, heart-troubling update. i think i can't put myself at ease not until you release the next chapter. i feel so helpless for airi and the rest.. be puppets.. aww~
UPDATE SOON!
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MiyaxAiri again! :on lol: :on lol: :on lol: BANZAI :on woohoo: :on woohoo: :on woohoo:
i fall in love :luvluv2: with how Miya was so protective of Airi here :onionwhip: :onionwhip: :onionwhip:
with Airi's case :glasses:, when she was having a nightmare :on chew:, she was calling Maimi :grr: but then realized it was Miya who was comforting her :farofflook: :farofflook: :farofflook: i was glad taiyou-hime knows who she's with :luvluv2:( though i know Miya has Rii here and Airi has Maimi here, still Miya was Airi's first, so take that Yajima :wahaha: :wahaha: :wahaha:)
Yankii Reina eh? :on cigar: :on cigar: :on cigar: now she's sporting a very nice bruise on her cheek! :on beatup :on beatup :on beatup
i hope the others can help the true blood, i dont want them to suffer anymore! :on speedy: :on speedy: :on speedy:
Update soon author-san, not next year....and your other fic as well, the BB fic! onegai! :kneelbow: :kneelbow: :kneelbow:
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First of all, I have to tell you something ...
i´m sorry for not commented in your previous chapter ...
I actually read it twice, the first time I read it, it was too fast ...
the second time that i read your chapter, it was more slowly, well i like your writings and your detailed writing, i love it so much. :heart: :heart:
Well, you know perfectly well that I really like the couple " Maimi and Airi". :heart:
it´s epic to me, well although lately i haven´t time, but... here I am, i´ll read your fic of "Sword" , this fic captivated me. :bow:
I really want to finish reading your story.
you know, when I start something, I like to finish it ... :sweatdrop:
She found herself running through the marsh, the sounds of crickets around her and the night black except for occasional twinkling of stars through the canopy above her.
“Maimi!” she cried in an ethereal voice as she ran down the path, her shoes squelching in the peat beneath them. She could see the girl’s figure fluttering infrequently through breaks in the trees, though it as well almost seemed as ethereal as her own voice.
She didn’t know why Maimi was apart from her, or why she was chasing after her, but she knew she had to find her.
“Maimi!” she cried again, trying to run harder, but the girl only seemed to be getting farther and farther ahead of her. She wondered why that was. Maimi was always the better runner…
Before long she realized she’d lost her, and she slowed to a walk. Tears welled up in her eyes. She needed to find Maimi. She didn’t know why, but it seemed like it was the most important thing in the world.
She loved her.
That’s right… why did she need any more of an excuse than that?
i love it!! :heart: :heart: :heart:
the previous chapter, I love your previous chapter, it was a great chapter.
but again Maimi and Airi were interrupted, aw ... too bad for them, their relationship, it´s slow again, but this is interesting ... :P
now that I've read your new chapter, I have so curious and I have many good prospects about your next chapters.
I hope you can write the other chapters soon.
AH!!! too late ... d(TT__TT)b Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!! :wub:
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I loved!!! please continue, I'm curious to know the rest of the story ^_^
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i'll give you a second comment because the first one was crap.. XD (yes i reread this too, right after i finish with CoT :P)
as i reread it i grow to love it even more but i stand by my first comment when i said i love the sequel more! :yep: :heart:
a couple of things i'm curious about:
1. Reina's sudden change(?)/epiphany(?) when she decided to go back to the room of Mano to fix things.. surely Chisa has got something to do it.. i wonder if she will finally accept Chisato's feelings?.. or at least fix things with her as well?.. XD
2. on how the skulls were lured by Linlin and Junjun.. i'm thinking Reina was lured into the room with lust of the flesh or power.. with Miya, i'm not sure what lured her into the room..
She didn’t know if it was related to her visions, although she thought they too shouted at her to take this given path. Now that she was here, and she looked up the stairs within House Nakazawa, she somehow knew what she was being led to.
Somewhere up there was a dark room. And somewhere up there was pain.
There was nothing in anything her mind could find reaching out across time and space telling her what she would face, even though she thought there should be, but she knew just as well that this was where she needed to be. Perhaps she could even help Reina and stop this all before it even started.
maybe her curiosity and want or need to know everything? :? with Airi it was the light that lured her right?.. XD the light was made more appealing to her because of the blackness of the night?.. lol.. idk.. :P
3. Miya's tattoo!! will that be playing a pivotal role on their current predicament?.. answerssssss.. XD i want to know how they will fight their way out of this one..
4. and 'oh 'oh! i remember one of Miya's visions concerning Ai-chan..
...Soon… Soon you will have to take up the sword.”
will Ai-chan play a vital role with the rescue of Reina,Miya, & Airi??.. rawrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.. :panic:
hmmmmm.. what else.. what else... oh! i want that douche who spat on Airi to drop dead... :angry: (:lol:)
p.s. expect one more bump with your one of your fics ..:mon psst: (CoT, the Sword and the Dove, and xxxxxx..) :P
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I have read your fic, Circle of three, long time ago and recently I just found out that this story, The sword and the dove was the continued of Circle of three (actually I just found out that you wrote so many fics^^ i'm gonna read all of them. You will definitely see me more in your threads).
I'm so glad, the story is really good.
Really wanna know what will happen next. Please update soon :D
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I'm sorry of having been so neglectful of this thread (not to mention the fic itself), but I've started on a new chapter, and to maybe give me even a bit more motivation, I think I'll do some comment replies now. ^^ Especially since you all put so much effort into them :heart:
rndy Zombie apocalypse on China!! Haha... yeah, well you'll see what's to come for them all :lol: And you keep imagining such terrible things. Maybe of them will happen. ^^; As for your questions, all of them may perhaps be possible. ;)
Windy: Yay wall of monkeys!! :D Even though it's an almost 6 month old one now... lol.
You want more MiyAiri huh? and a Miya/Reina fight? XD Well unfortunately, Reina is far away from Chisato right now. :lol: And ha! I'm glad you finally felt the darkness! XD That was really the point in this chapter... And more darkness... yay... :lol: Why torture them? What about the tattoo? We'll see :) ...eventually... lol
oddball: Hey! This story's never been dead! :lol: I've put too much effort into it for it to die out so easily... As for China's intentions, well, if you remember waaaay back to early on and maybe at times during Circle of Three, you might find some hints to it, but one advantage of Reina/Miya/Airi going where they are is that it will be revealed before long too...
Worried about Airi's innocence too, huh? It truly doesn't look good for whatever she might have left... In the end, this whole thing is a sort of coming-of-age tale as well... And Miya standing up better? Maybe she's just tougher :lol: or else just more aware of herself and things around her. As for the tattoo, unlike sometimes in my stories, you'll know when it's gonna come in handy. ;)
I liked your comment :) Good thoughts~
mmsuki: I'll... get back to you later. :lol: Thank you for writing so much though!!! And my fics are dark, huh? Well, yeah, this definitely is. ^^;
maize: Don't you guys like epic chapters??? ^^;; I'd forgotten your comments on Chisa and Reina, but I'll say whatever's going on between them might just be the toughest relationship in the story :lol: And that would be saying something considering Airi/Maimi, for example... lol. And who wouldn't be protective of Airi? :lol: Well, maybe Reina, but well... she's Reina. XD
Miya and Airi do have a very close relationship. Just... not that kind... And I don't think Reina will ever lose that sense of humor :) ...or will she? Nah, she can't. XD 9 months? How about 6? >.> I guess these chapters just take a lot outta me... lol.
aya-chii: I'm so glad to see the emotions this is evoking :) And sorry at the same time, though it was the intent!!! lol. I hope you at some point got at ease over the last few months >.> lol, then again I'm sad about it cause it'd mean you've lost the mood of the story...
ayase: Another one looking for all the MiyAiri :lol: I don't even see MiRii in your sig anymore, whatever happened to them? XD And taiyou-hime... I like that name!!! :D And unfortunately, the girls do have a bit more suffering to endure. ^^;
M_Y: :heart: Thank you for coming here and commenting ^____^ It really does make me happy you're still keeping an eye on here. I hope you are able to finish it some day!!! And thanks for the holiday greetings :D
Airidoki: Thanks for coming to the thread! :D I hope you continue reading it when I post more...
mmsuki: Ok, back again :lol: You even number your comments!!! That makes replying easier :lol:
1. Though this is from a while back... Reina's character can develop, after all :) and there will be a heck of a lot of development through their experiences in Beijing...
2. Hmm, I'm not sure it was something so tangible that lured them in there. :lol: Remember, there's a lot going on in this fic concerning souls and magic and such... The power of a will is very strong.
3. I mentioned that a bit further up... ^^
4. Yes, Ai will definitely pick up the sword, and you start seeing that right away in the coming chapter.
More violence wished against that Captain. :lol: Then again, no one spits in Airi's face... >.>
twintt: Hello! I hope I do see you around here more! :D Welcome~ And tahnk you for reading those stories. :)