[Fanfic] Remember [Chapter 6]
Title: Remember [Chapter 6]
Rating: T
Fandom: Eyeshield 21/CLAMP (Crossover)
Disclaimers: I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely Riichiro Inagaki and Yuusuke Murata for Eyeshield 21 and CLAMP.
Summary: Anezaki Mamori wakes up to realize that she has been thrown into a different world with no memory of who she is or was. With the help of a familiar blonde demon and a mysterious woman, she goes on a journey to discover the truth behind this predicament and regain what she had lost. AU. Crossover. HiruMamo.
Notes: Holy shit, did I really abandon this fic since January?! Well, I'm not sure how many people here are still fans of this fic, but I'll keep doing my best with this one. I really have no intention of leaving this fic unfinished. But a lot of other stuff came up and I just couldn't find the time to focus and work on the next chapters... until now. As an apology for how long this took, I offer you two chapters. Chapter 7 would be particularly long, so I hope you guys enjoy that. Until then, finally, here's Chapter 6.
~*~
It started off with a whisper, a faint one that she could barely recall what it said. She opened her eyes to nothing but blinding whiteness. There was nothing to see, but she could feel a breeze caress her, playing through her hair. She raised a hand to comb through her long, silky hair. She cannot recall when it grew that long.
The breeze becomes stronger, and against the stark white of her scenery, a rush of colours was coming towards her. Pale colours of blue, pink, yellow, green and so many more. One passed by her as if carried by the wind and she heard a voice call out, “Mamori!”
She gasped as she turned to see who called her, but no one was there. More colours swept by her as the breeze turned into a strong wind. “Mamori! Mamo-kaa-san! Anezaki! Mamo-nee!”
“Who’s there?” she mustered, confused. She looked around her and found herself practically surrounded by colours, and the more they passed by her ears, the more she heard voices of so many people calling out to her.
The wind overwhelmed her and she felt herself sinking. Two words remain before she gained consciousness.
Come back!
Mamori groaned as she felt herself being pulled into her current reality, which wasn’t even reality at all. She felt the familiar feeling of the grassy bed under her, but it was also strangely warm. She opened her eyes and found out that she was sleeping under a tree that was shading her of what appeared to be a strong summer sun.
The sun! Mamori sat up as she looked beyond the leaves. Yes, there it was! Shining brightly, filling her world with warmth. Mamori smiled happily, basking in that moment. It felt like it had been forever since she last saw the sun proudly staying in the middle of the sky and not shying away from her.
“Well, you’re in a good mood,” a familiar voice called out to her. Mamori turned to find Hiruma walking towards her. It was then that she realized she was near the shops she had walked past just before reaching her old Middle School. “I guess you had a good dream?”
“Eh?” went Mamori. Sub consciously, she found her hand combing through her hair, and then it occurred to her that her current hairstyle was shorter than the one she had in her dream. “No, it was another strange dream…” Mamori tried her best to recall anything that could be important. But other than the voices calling out to her as well as the length of her hair, nothing else came to mind. “I wonder what they all mean…”
She noticed Hiruma was watching her cautiously now. She took that chance to look deep into his green eyes, and in that split second, she sensed a deep pain coming from him. But it disappeared as quickly as she saw it. He grinned back at her and said, “Think you can get up? You might find this pretty interesting.”
Mamori got up, picking her sword as she followed Hiruma unto the street with the shops. The moment she looked into one of the shops, she gasped. “It can’t be…”
The shops were not empty now, though they were still deserted. But the boutique was now filled with racks of clothes, the bookshop’s shelves were now filled with books. Mamori continued to look down every shop and though not a single soul was in sight, the shops were filled with items to be sold.
“This is amazing…” said Mamori as she walked into the closest boutique. Hiruma followed her as she pulled out a blue dress that caught her eyes. She held it against her and liked the design instantly.
“Wanna give it a try?” he asked, looking rather mischievous.
Mamori eyed him curiously. “These clothes are real, aren’t they? I mean, there’s no one here and I don’t have any money. They’re not going to disappear when I wear them, right?”
Hiruma laughed loudly. “Are you fucking serious?”
Mamori pouted. There he goes again, treating her current situation like a joke. He was being incredibly hard to predict for her. Was he really something her mind created? Just like these things around her? Like the beings she’s fighting against? If she created him as her complete opposite, why was he still so hard to understand?
She sighed, knowing such confusing line of thought would do nothing to help her in her current situation.
“Just try it on,” he grinned. Mamori looked at him, wondering if he was joking. But she felt that he was being strangely sincere about it. She nodded as she headed towards a changing room at the back of the shop. She closed the curtains and just as she stripped off her shirt, she heard him say, “Though even if it does disappear, I don’t think it’s such a bad thing.”
“That isn’t funny, Hiruma! Stop that!” she cried out. She gasped and slapped her palm against her mouth. That felt strange to her. It was a rush of words she didn’t expect to say out loud, but there it was. Silence fell upon them, and Mamori wondered if she hurt Hiruma’s feelings. She couldn’t see his reaction after all, so she spoke up. “Hiruma, I’m sorry…”
But he cackled instead. “You really are gaining more of yourself back.”
Mamori was confused by this. Sighing, she unzipped her skirt and pulled the dress on. She looked at herself in the mirror and she found herself gazing at her reflection. She never really did take a good look at herself since she became aware of this world, but now that she did, it felt like she was looking at someone completely different. “Who am I?” she whispered to herself.
She took a deep breath before pulling the curtain back to show it to Hiruma. He stood there looking at her, but she couldn’t read what he was thinking. “Well…” she muttered. “I guess the clothes didn’t disappear…”
“Heh…” Hiruma grinned. “No, it didn’t. But you sure know how to pull off that fucking dress.”
Mamori giggled. Then she stopped herself again. Hiruma noticed the confusion on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s so strange…” she said, as she turned to look at the mirror in the dressing room. “There’s a lot of strange feelings going through me right now. I didn’t expect to shout at you earlier, yet I did. I didn’t expect to laugh at anything, especially at my current situation… and yet I did. All these emotions feel new, yet strangely nostalgic. It’s just… weird.”
“But that’s good, right?” he asked her curiously. “This is what you wanted, right?”
Mamori looked at Hiruma, he seemed rather intent to hear her answer. “I’m not sure but…” she placed a hand on her chest, feeling the rhythm of her heart. Another new yet nostalgic feeling to her. “Yes, this is what I want. It will take some getting used to cause it feels so raw for me now, but yes, I want to gain it all back.”
Hiruma grinned. “Well then, let’s get your shopping done so we can finish off our current baddies.”
“Ah!” cried Mamori. “You’re right! I should be getting ready for our next fight! I can’t wear this dress if I’m going to be fighting strange creatures!” Mamori rushed out and looked through the varied clothes before her. She pulled out a black jacket, a black skirt and shorts before rushing into the changing room again, hastily closing the curtains.
Hiruma waited patiently as Mamori came out in her new outfit, with her black fitting jacket covering her black top. Her black skirt fluttered as she moved towards him. “Interesting choice,” he commented.
“I just needed to wear something comfy as we fight,” she replied as she looked down at her outfit. “I think anime characters would wear something cool like this whenever they go out to fight.”
“Which anime character are you thinking of?”
Mamori blinked. “I don’t know. But this should do, right?”
“Keh,” he grinned. “Not quite yet.”
“Eh?” went Mamori, but Hiruma walked out of the shop. Mamori hastily grabbed her sword, which she left on the changing room ground, and looked at the old clothes she was wearing as well as the blue dress. She smiled for a moment before rushing after Hiruma, leaving them behind.
Mamori wondered where he went before she found him standing in front of a shoe shop. He saw her coming towards him, so he nodded at a pair of boots he was looking at. “I think you’ll want these too.”
Mamori took a closer look at the boots. They were also black and were up to her knees, but it looked comfy and good for running. Pulling out her old sneakers, she took the boots and tried them on. They fit, and she could tell that it was definitely going to serve its purpose during her battles.
She smiled contently. It was a strange feeling, having new clothes on. As if she had gotten rid of her old, uncertain self and was now gaining a new persona. One that is determined to regain everything she had lost. She looked at Hiruma. “Thank you…”
“I’m not done yet,” he said. “I think you need one more boost before we work on today’s ‘mission’.”
“Boost?” she asked, but Hiruma walked off once again, Mamori trailing behind him.
“The past two fights we had, you were so fucking hesitant to get going,” he said. “So I figured you need one extra push the next time you feel… well… hopeless.”
He stopped in front of a bakery shop. Mamori looked at him, wondering why he would even bring her there. But he didn’t say a word, he merely grinned. Shrugging, Mamori entered the bakery shop. She was surprised that all the breads and buns were fresh and smelled amazing. But one particular pastry caught her attention.
She reached out for one hesitantly and took it. She eyed it curiously, wondering why her body reacted to it. She brought it closer to her mouth and nibbled on it. Then she took a bite. Then another bite. She consumed the whole thing and it made her smile even more than she had ever remembered. “What is this?” she cried out. “I can’t remember the name, but it’s soft and it’s creamy and… it makes me feel so happy!”
“Can’t recall the name, huh?” said Hiruma, who had watched the scene before her amusingly. “Maybe you’ll recall it once you beat today’s ‘mission’?”
Mamori nodded as she took one last look at the pastry before heading out with him. She stopped on the street, looking around her and trying to figure out where to go, before deciding to head right. They walked on in silence before Mamori spoke up, “You’re really amazing, Hiruma.”
“What do you mean?”
“It feels like you brought me to the exact spots that would make me feel all these strange feelings, which only enforced my desire even more to gain back all my memories,” she said, feeling another strange emotion well up as she spoke. “You really know me that well! Is it really because you’re a part of this world that I created?”
“What do you think?” he asked, though his gaze seemed more distant.
“I find it hard to believe, really. Even though you said I created you, your presence feels a lot different than anything I see, touch or feel here. I’m not sure if that’s how it’s meant to be though, so I could be wrong. But it makes me glad to know that there’s someone out there who knows who I really am.”
Hiruma stopped in his tracks. Mamori also stopped though she was now looking at him curiously. He was trying to hide it, but Mamori could sense that Hiruma was deeply troubled by something. “Hiruma?” she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but he quickly moved forward, avoiding her.
“Keh, we’re heading to Deimon, aren’t we?” he said as he looked at the path before them.
“Deimon?” said Mamori, trying to recall where she had heard that name before. Then she remembered her encounter with Sara and Ako. “Ah! That means we’re heading to my High School!”
They continued to walk on now, and sure enough, there sat Deimon. The day was turning into evening now, and it was getting cool. But Mamori wasn’t afraid of the darkness now. In fact, she was eager to face whatever that was before her, a part of her desperate to find out the name of that pastry she had eaten earlier.
They now stood at the entrance. Mamori could definitely feel a presence coming from the school, but there was no sign of any creatures lurking around. “Let’s go in,” said Hiruma as he walked into the school compound.
Mamori nodded and followed after him.
Chapter 5 | Chapter 7
Rating: T
Fandom: Eyeshield 21/CLAMP (Crossover)
Disclaimers: I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely Riichiro Inagaki and Yuusuke Murata for Eyeshield 21 and CLAMP.
Summary: Anezaki Mamori wakes up to realize that she has been thrown into a different world with no memory of who she is or was. With the help of a familiar blonde demon and a mysterious woman, she goes on a journey to discover the truth behind this predicament and regain what she had lost. AU. Crossover. HiruMamo.
Notes: Holy shit, did I really abandon this fic since January?! Well, I'm not sure how many people here are still fans of this fic, but I'll keep doing my best with this one. I really have no intention of leaving this fic unfinished. But a lot of other stuff came up and I just couldn't find the time to focus and work on the next chapters... until now. As an apology for how long this took, I offer you two chapters. Chapter 7 would be particularly long, so I hope you guys enjoy that. Until then, finally, here's Chapter 6.
~*~
It started off with a whisper, a faint one that she could barely recall what it said. She opened her eyes to nothing but blinding whiteness. There was nothing to see, but she could feel a breeze caress her, playing through her hair. She raised a hand to comb through her long, silky hair. She cannot recall when it grew that long.
The breeze becomes stronger, and against the stark white of her scenery, a rush of colours was coming towards her. Pale colours of blue, pink, yellow, green and so many more. One passed by her as if carried by the wind and she heard a voice call out, “Mamori!”
She gasped as she turned to see who called her, but no one was there. More colours swept by her as the breeze turned into a strong wind. “Mamori! Mamo-kaa-san! Anezaki! Mamo-nee!”
“Who’s there?” she mustered, confused. She looked around her and found herself practically surrounded by colours, and the more they passed by her ears, the more she heard voices of so many people calling out to her.
The wind overwhelmed her and she felt herself sinking. Two words remain before she gained consciousness.
Come back!
Mamori groaned as she felt herself being pulled into her current reality, which wasn’t even reality at all. She felt the familiar feeling of the grassy bed under her, but it was also strangely warm. She opened her eyes and found out that she was sleeping under a tree that was shading her of what appeared to be a strong summer sun.
The sun! Mamori sat up as she looked beyond the leaves. Yes, there it was! Shining brightly, filling her world with warmth. Mamori smiled happily, basking in that moment. It felt like it had been forever since she last saw the sun proudly staying in the middle of the sky and not shying away from her.
“Well, you’re in a good mood,” a familiar voice called out to her. Mamori turned to find Hiruma walking towards her. It was then that she realized she was near the shops she had walked past just before reaching her old Middle School. “I guess you had a good dream?”
“Eh?” went Mamori. Sub consciously, she found her hand combing through her hair, and then it occurred to her that her current hairstyle was shorter than the one she had in her dream. “No, it was another strange dream…” Mamori tried her best to recall anything that could be important. But other than the voices calling out to her as well as the length of her hair, nothing else came to mind. “I wonder what they all mean…”
She noticed Hiruma was watching her cautiously now. She took that chance to look deep into his green eyes, and in that split second, she sensed a deep pain coming from him. But it disappeared as quickly as she saw it. He grinned back at her and said, “Think you can get up? You might find this pretty interesting.”
Mamori got up, picking her sword as she followed Hiruma unto the street with the shops. The moment she looked into one of the shops, she gasped. “It can’t be…”
The shops were not empty now, though they were still deserted. But the boutique was now filled with racks of clothes, the bookshop’s shelves were now filled with books. Mamori continued to look down every shop and though not a single soul was in sight, the shops were filled with items to be sold.
“This is amazing…” said Mamori as she walked into the closest boutique. Hiruma followed her as she pulled out a blue dress that caught her eyes. She held it against her and liked the design instantly.
“Wanna give it a try?” he asked, looking rather mischievous.
Mamori eyed him curiously. “These clothes are real, aren’t they? I mean, there’s no one here and I don’t have any money. They’re not going to disappear when I wear them, right?”
Hiruma laughed loudly. “Are you fucking serious?”
Mamori pouted. There he goes again, treating her current situation like a joke. He was being incredibly hard to predict for her. Was he really something her mind created? Just like these things around her? Like the beings she’s fighting against? If she created him as her complete opposite, why was he still so hard to understand?
She sighed, knowing such confusing line of thought would do nothing to help her in her current situation.
“Just try it on,” he grinned. Mamori looked at him, wondering if he was joking. But she felt that he was being strangely sincere about it. She nodded as she headed towards a changing room at the back of the shop. She closed the curtains and just as she stripped off her shirt, she heard him say, “Though even if it does disappear, I don’t think it’s such a bad thing.”
“That isn’t funny, Hiruma! Stop that!” she cried out. She gasped and slapped her palm against her mouth. That felt strange to her. It was a rush of words she didn’t expect to say out loud, but there it was. Silence fell upon them, and Mamori wondered if she hurt Hiruma’s feelings. She couldn’t see his reaction after all, so she spoke up. “Hiruma, I’m sorry…”
But he cackled instead. “You really are gaining more of yourself back.”
Mamori was confused by this. Sighing, she unzipped her skirt and pulled the dress on. She looked at herself in the mirror and she found herself gazing at her reflection. She never really did take a good look at herself since she became aware of this world, but now that she did, it felt like she was looking at someone completely different. “Who am I?” she whispered to herself.
She took a deep breath before pulling the curtain back to show it to Hiruma. He stood there looking at her, but she couldn’t read what he was thinking. “Well…” she muttered. “I guess the clothes didn’t disappear…”
“Heh…” Hiruma grinned. “No, it didn’t. But you sure know how to pull off that fucking dress.”
Mamori giggled. Then she stopped herself again. Hiruma noticed the confusion on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s so strange…” she said, as she turned to look at the mirror in the dressing room. “There’s a lot of strange feelings going through me right now. I didn’t expect to shout at you earlier, yet I did. I didn’t expect to laugh at anything, especially at my current situation… and yet I did. All these emotions feel new, yet strangely nostalgic. It’s just… weird.”
“But that’s good, right?” he asked her curiously. “This is what you wanted, right?”
Mamori looked at Hiruma, he seemed rather intent to hear her answer. “I’m not sure but…” she placed a hand on her chest, feeling the rhythm of her heart. Another new yet nostalgic feeling to her. “Yes, this is what I want. It will take some getting used to cause it feels so raw for me now, but yes, I want to gain it all back.”
Hiruma grinned. “Well then, let’s get your shopping done so we can finish off our current baddies.”
“Ah!” cried Mamori. “You’re right! I should be getting ready for our next fight! I can’t wear this dress if I’m going to be fighting strange creatures!” Mamori rushed out and looked through the varied clothes before her. She pulled out a black jacket, a black skirt and shorts before rushing into the changing room again, hastily closing the curtains.
Hiruma waited patiently as Mamori came out in her new outfit, with her black fitting jacket covering her black top. Her black skirt fluttered as she moved towards him. “Interesting choice,” he commented.
“I just needed to wear something comfy as we fight,” she replied as she looked down at her outfit. “I think anime characters would wear something cool like this whenever they go out to fight.”
“Which anime character are you thinking of?”
Mamori blinked. “I don’t know. But this should do, right?”
“Keh,” he grinned. “Not quite yet.”
“Eh?” went Mamori, but Hiruma walked out of the shop. Mamori hastily grabbed her sword, which she left on the changing room ground, and looked at the old clothes she was wearing as well as the blue dress. She smiled for a moment before rushing after Hiruma, leaving them behind.
Mamori wondered where he went before she found him standing in front of a shoe shop. He saw her coming towards him, so he nodded at a pair of boots he was looking at. “I think you’ll want these too.”
Mamori took a closer look at the boots. They were also black and were up to her knees, but it looked comfy and good for running. Pulling out her old sneakers, she took the boots and tried them on. They fit, and she could tell that it was definitely going to serve its purpose during her battles.
She smiled contently. It was a strange feeling, having new clothes on. As if she had gotten rid of her old, uncertain self and was now gaining a new persona. One that is determined to regain everything she had lost. She looked at Hiruma. “Thank you…”
“I’m not done yet,” he said. “I think you need one more boost before we work on today’s ‘mission’.”
“Boost?” she asked, but Hiruma walked off once again, Mamori trailing behind him.
“The past two fights we had, you were so fucking hesitant to get going,” he said. “So I figured you need one extra push the next time you feel… well… hopeless.”
He stopped in front of a bakery shop. Mamori looked at him, wondering why he would even bring her there. But he didn’t say a word, he merely grinned. Shrugging, Mamori entered the bakery shop. She was surprised that all the breads and buns were fresh and smelled amazing. But one particular pastry caught her attention.
She reached out for one hesitantly and took it. She eyed it curiously, wondering why her body reacted to it. She brought it closer to her mouth and nibbled on it. Then she took a bite. Then another bite. She consumed the whole thing and it made her smile even more than she had ever remembered. “What is this?” she cried out. “I can’t remember the name, but it’s soft and it’s creamy and… it makes me feel so happy!”
“Can’t recall the name, huh?” said Hiruma, who had watched the scene before her amusingly. “Maybe you’ll recall it once you beat today’s ‘mission’?”
Mamori nodded as she took one last look at the pastry before heading out with him. She stopped on the street, looking around her and trying to figure out where to go, before deciding to head right. They walked on in silence before Mamori spoke up, “You’re really amazing, Hiruma.”
“What do you mean?”
“It feels like you brought me to the exact spots that would make me feel all these strange feelings, which only enforced my desire even more to gain back all my memories,” she said, feeling another strange emotion well up as she spoke. “You really know me that well! Is it really because you’re a part of this world that I created?”
“What do you think?” he asked, though his gaze seemed more distant.
“I find it hard to believe, really. Even though you said I created you, your presence feels a lot different than anything I see, touch or feel here. I’m not sure if that’s how it’s meant to be though, so I could be wrong. But it makes me glad to know that there’s someone out there who knows who I really am.”
Hiruma stopped in his tracks. Mamori also stopped though she was now looking at him curiously. He was trying to hide it, but Mamori could sense that Hiruma was deeply troubled by something. “Hiruma?” she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but he quickly moved forward, avoiding her.
“Keh, we’re heading to Deimon, aren’t we?” he said as he looked at the path before them.
“Deimon?” said Mamori, trying to recall where she had heard that name before. Then she remembered her encounter with Sara and Ako. “Ah! That means we’re heading to my High School!”
They continued to walk on now, and sure enough, there sat Deimon. The day was turning into evening now, and it was getting cool. But Mamori wasn’t afraid of the darkness now. In fact, she was eager to face whatever that was before her, a part of her desperate to find out the name of that pastry she had eaten earlier.
They now stood at the entrance. Mamori could definitely feel a presence coming from the school, but there was no sign of any creatures lurking around. “Let’s go in,” said Hiruma as he walked into the school compound.
Mamori nodded and followed after him.
Chapter 5 | Chapter 7