[Fanfic] Remember [Chapter 7]
Title: Remember [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: And here's Chapter 7. I apologize for how long this fic took. This chapter was especially hard to write as I had to include some form of football that was vague and a little bit disorderly. I hope my writing isn't confusing in this chapter as it's pretty action based. Do let me know if I made any mistakes and I'll work on them. Thanks, and I do hope you enjoy this chapter!
~*~
As Mamori had expected, the sky was now a burning orange as the sun began to set. Curiosity made her wonder why her world’s days ended so quickly, but she marched on into Deimon, feeling certain that the answers will surely come to her once she gains more of her memories.
They were walking in the locker area with Hiruma following closely behind her, when Mamori sensed him shifting slightly off course and she turned around to look at him for a moment. He was eyeing their area with a strange look in his eyes. Mamori looked where his gaze seemed to linger, but couldn’t make out anything other than a bunch of lockers.
“Meet me by the lockers, I have something urgent to pass you.”
Mamori blinked as the words flitted in her mind and disappeared almost instantly. Did something important happen by the lockers?
“Oi, what the fuck are you waiting for?”
Hiruma was looking at her now, grin back in place. Mamori opened her mouth, ready to ask about Deimon, but she stopped herself. Even if Hiruma was her complete opposite and might hold more answers, surely her memories would come back to her in due time. That would have to wait. “Nothing,” she replied, shaking her head. “I was just thinking. Let’s keep going.”
They walked straight on with Mamori wondering if they should be heading into one of the classrooms, just like at her Middle School. But as she looked at the stairs, she felt a pull come from somewhere else. She then headed towards it, Hiruma still following close behind her.
She was now walking out of the school, across the school field. The sky had turned an ominous mix of purple and violet. It was getting really dark, and Mamori felt a twinge of fear within her heart as she wondered what could possibly be waiting for her out here. But she knew whatever she had to face wasn’t in the field. No, it was somewhere else…
She looked around and saw it, a small building close to the school and near the field. She could feel a presence growing stronger as she approached it. It was then that she noticed the huge, neon sign on the top of the building. Like a loud statement, the letters shone brightly before her emblazoning the word “WELCOME” with a cartoon-ish, evil looking red bat beside it. Mamori tilted her head curiously, “Deimon… Devil Bats?” she read aloud.
She heard Hiruma’s familiar cackle behind her. “What’s so funny?” she asked, turning to look at him. He quickly sobered down, a shadow of a smile left as he said, “It’s nothing, I just think this clubhouse looks ridiculous.”
Mamori looked at the clubhouse once again. “I… guess so. It doesn’t look like a clubhouse at all, it reminds me of things like casinos and places like Las Vegas…” Mamori stopped herself, eyes wide. “Eh?”
Hiruma also seemed pretty stunned by Mamori’s words. “What?”
“No, it’s just… strange, I don’t really remember how I know about Las Vegas.”
Hiruma merely nodded. “Just take things one step at a time,” was all he could say to her. “Now, are you going in there or not?”
Mamori took one more look at the neon sign, then at the sliding door before her. She nodded. “Yes… let’s go.”
Taking a few steps forward, Mamori held the door handle firmly in her hands. She was sure whatever she had to fight was right behind that door. Her heart was beating fast as she felt terror creep within her. It’s okay… she told herself. Everything will be all right… Her memories will return once this is over, and everything will be all right…
She slid open the door.
Mamori was confused at first. Everything inside was dark and hollow. Night had already claimed her world and the darkness seemed more terrifying than she could remember. Something wasn’t right, and the thought of it made her shiver.
“Oi, you okay?” Hiruma asked as he stepped up next to her.
She bit her lip. So much doubt was filling her right now as the darkness seemed to stare back at her. All the confidence she had earlier seemed to fade away. Was it trying to consume her again? No, Mamori knew there was something else going on in the darkness. She focused harder, trying to figure out where the source of this strange feeling was coming from…
Then she felt something strange coming from the ceiling, prompting her to look up. As she did, the hot bright field lights behind them turned on with a flash, shining into the clubhouse. Finally able to see, Mamori gasped.
There were bodies hanging from the ceiling.
Mamori almost screamed at the sight. At her expression, Hiruma grabbed her wrist. “They’re not real!” his words sliced through her fear.
Screaming in her mind, ‘how could they not be real?!’ She struggled to calm her nerves and forced a closer look at the hanging bodies, finally realizing they were cold and almost puppet like. They were mannequins, dressed in what Mamori could only think of at the moment as a sports uniform of different colours, heavily padded with their necks wrapped in ropes that seemed to come from an infinite darkness at the ceiling.
“I don’t get it…” Mamori spoke up. But then she heard a rattle coming from one of the mannequins. It looked as if a breeze had just passed by the mannequins, but Mamori felt nothing. She gripped on to her sword tightly. Hiruma had now let go of her wrist and held his guns ready.
Suddenly one of the mannequins crashed onto the floor, rope cut clean. Mamori let out a short scream. It was like a battered body with its joints bent in different directions. The rattling sound grew louder and Mamori heard more crashes. More of them were falling, spread across the entire floor.
Mamori could barely breathe. It was like a sea of dead bodies to her. This had become more terrifying than the ghost she’d first met, as she barely understood what was going on or what was going to happen. Even Hiruma seemed confused by the sight before him.
There was a short silence that seemed to pierce through the air when all the bodies had finally fallen. Mamori continued to hold her breath, just knowing something was going to happen.
And right on cue, one of the mannequins rattled and stood up. Mamori gasped, taking a step back. More of them were getting up now, and they were walking…
No, they were going to run right towards them. “RUN!” Mamori screamed at Hiruma, but it was too late. The mannequins rushed forward and tackled the both of them. She was desperately slashing her sword left and right and she could even hear Hiruma shooting at them, but none of their attacks left even a scratch on them. The mannequins had now lifted them both off the ground and dragged both Mamori and Hiruma with them.
Everything was a blur in the chaos that surrounded Mamori as she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly. She felt like she was screaming, but the thundering footsteps of the mannequins made it hard to hear. Where were they taking her? She could barely feel the ground, sandwiched between two mannequins as she was.
And without warning they released her abruptly on what felt like grass. Mamori coughed and gasped struggling to catch her breath. She opened her eyes, trying to focus on what was going on, until she finally realized where she was.
She was by the field she and Hiruma had passed by earlier. Only this time the mannequins occupied the field. Struck dumb by what she saw, she realized the mannequins weren’t really out to attack her. They’d practically dropped her on the side of the field.
Then she noticed that the mannequins were fighting with each other. Some were tackling each other to the ground, others seemed to be running around, avoiding each other, some stood waiting and took action the moment another mannequin came close.
They were all scrambling for something. Mamori stood on shaky legs, using her sword to support her. She watched carefully to see what they were all after… it was something small and had an angular shape…
Mamori’s eyes flew wide open as she realized it was some sort of ball. Was this a game? As Mamori looked at the ball carefully, it dawned unto her that the ball was the source of power she needed to break. Upon realizing this, Mamori looked around her, desperately looking for Hiruma so she could tell him this.
Her eyes located him on the opposite side of the field, looking pretty beaten up. Mamori was sure she looked just about the same. She needed to get to him, so when she was sure the mannequins were distracted, she moved towards the field, hoping she could run across before the strange mannequins realized her presence…
Just as she stepped onto the field, Hiruma shouted at her. She couldn’t hear what he said, but she knew danger was coming. She turned quickly to find one mannequin rushing towards her, ready to tackle her to the ground. Mamori let out a scream as she held her sword before her. The mannequin seemed to only take a light blow as Mamori swung her sword at it, but it was enough to distract him as Mamori took a few steps back. She was ready to take another swing at it, when she realized that the mannequin wasn’t after her anymore. It was off attacking another mannequin.
Mamori was terribly confused by then. Hiruma was shouting at her, but the mannequins’ thundering footsteps and the distance between them made it hard for her to understand him. “I can’t hear you!” she shouted, but her voice was easily drowned out by the noise.
A cold shiver ran through Mamori’s body. Things were chaotic and Hiruma was not by her side. What were they going to do? Mamori took a deep breath, desperate to calm herself down. It seemed as though if Mamori even tried to get towards Hiruma, those mannequins would attack, but why did it stop attacking her when she backed out?
Mamori looked at the ground and noticed she was just behind a white line painted on the grass. Mamori then looked at Hiruma and realized that he, too, was standing behind a white line. Mamori’s eyes widened with realization.
Of course! These mannequins were players, and the moment she or even Hiruma stepped on the actual field, these players would treat them like any other player and attack. This made things a lot harder, as Mamori knew she had to get the ball, and there was no way of doing this easily without the chance of getting attacked.
Mamori was forced to observe the players now as she tried to see if there was some sort of opening she could use to find her way into the field and grab the ball before being tackled into the ground. She wasn’t sure what game this was, though something in her nagged that she should. For now, she knew she had to at least understand the nature of this game.
There were a number of players that kept tackling each other, but Mamori noted that a few of them did little to no tackling. They merely blocked a tackling player with their shoulders and would run with the ball. Then she noticed they would pass the ball to another player and that player would throw the ball to the other side of the field. That was when another player on the other side of the field would catch it and try to run towards the goal post, but another player would run and snatch the ball away and rush straight into the bunch of players that were tackling, blocking Mamori’s view of where the ball was. Then another player would emerge with the ball, running towards the player that throws and it would do the same thing again….
That was when it hit her. There was a pattern. A very simple pattern. Mamori considered running straight at the moment when the player throws the ball and slicing the ball in half before it reaches the one catching… but as this was done in the middle of the field, Mamori knew being tackled would be a high risk if she did that. Mamori bit her lip, she wasn’t sure what she had to do.
Suddenly, Hiruma was running across the field. Mamori gasped as she saw a number of players rush towards him, but he was running fast enough to evade them for now. Was he running towards her? At that moment, the player that throws had just got the ball and was now aiming to the other side of the field where Hiruma was.
Mamori gasped as she saw how close Hiruma was to being tackled, but he jumped at that precise moment, arms stretched high into the air and he caught the ball in midair. He quickly landed onto his feet, and tucked the ball tightly under his armpit as he ran to evade the players trying to take him down.
Then Hiruma turned and threw the ball to the other end of the field to where Mamori was, and she was shocked to see how far the ball was going. The pattern was broken now, and a number of players scrambled to adapt to the change as now another player stood in front of Mamori, ready to catch the ball.
Mamori took note of this quickly but heard a huge rattling sound that made her jump. Mamori clapped her hand against her mouth as Hiruma was nowhere to be found on the field, but there was a big pile of mannequins where he was supposed to be.
“HIRUMA!” she screamed. The players slowly got up to reveal Hiruma lying down. One player was dragging him by his feet and was pulling him to the other side of the field, away from Mamori. It was obvious that these mannequins knew Hiruma was not an actual player, but Mamori also felt certain that they were keeping him away from her on purpose.
This wasn’t going to help much. Even so, that display had shown her that Hiruma was capable of throwing the ball quite a distance and she knew they could utilize that skill to get the ball towards her and destroy it before one of the players got to it. There was no way of communicating all that to Hiruma with mere words. She had to find some other way to do so.
Mamori waved frantically at Hiruma, who got groggily to his feet. His expression belied the hint of a smirk on his lips that Mamori could make out even from this distance. She paused, concerned, after all he’d just been taken down… but before she could further contemplate, Hiruma looked straight at her. She had obviously caught his attention.
She had to make him do that one more time. So she lifted her index finger to say “One more time” and then she swung her arms by her side to show that he should run towards the field and do it again. Then she pointed at the other end of the field and then herself to say that he had to throw the ball at her. Hiruma looked confused at first, but a grin soon blossomed on his face that quickly turned to laughter. Mamori could only stomp her feet in frustration. “Urgh, Hiruma!” she grumbled. Now wasn’t the time to laugh at her attempts to communicate!
But it seemed as though Hiruma understood her. He got up and was watching the ball carefully now, and even Mamori set herself ready as she rushed to the end of the field where she hoped she could get the ball before it reached the player who catches.
Just as the player was about to throw the ball to the side where Hiruma was, Mamori noticed the mistake she was making. She had hoped that Hiruma would throw the ball to the edge of the field so Mamori could only take a few steps and slice the ball before the players could touch her.
But now a player had taken its position very close to where Mamori was. There was no doubt she was going to get tackled. But before she could signal to Hiruma to stop the plan for a moment so she could rethink this, he was already on the field and rushing forward as the player prepared to throw the ball.
Mamori panicked. She had to tell him she was going to rush across the right side of the field as fast as she could so he could aim there, or else he was going to aim to where she was and not only would the ball be intercepted, they would both get tackled.
Hiruma was turning, ready to look out for the ball. Mamori bit her lip. There was no time for silly charades, she had to come up with a way to tell him… quickly! Think!
Without realizing it, Mamori had raised her right hand towards Hiruma. This caught his attention once more, but Mamori knew she had to be quick. Without realizing it, some of her fingers were folding, and her palm was moving from side to side in a quick manner. She wasn’t even sure what she was doing, then when it hit her that she was distracting him, she quickly pulled her right hand straight towards her chest.
Hiruma was wide-eyed at Mamori’s attempt to communicate with him, but he quickly stopped in his tracks. He grinned as he jumped to catch the ball, and he tilted his head to tell her, “Get going, already.”
Mamori was dumbfounded. She wasn’t sure if Hiruma got the message. But she was going to have to trust him. Sword tightly in hand, Mamori rushed to the right side of the field.
She was sure Hiruma had already thrown the ball, but she could not see if it was where she wanted him to throw. For now, she was too busy avoiding the thundering herd heading towards her. One small player attempted to do so, but she pushed it away with her sword. The sword did no damage to it, but it gave her enough time to turn and hold her sword ready, praying hard that Hiruma threw the ball in the right direction.
And like a miracle that felt like it came straight from a dream, the ball was flying right towards her.
One player was behind her now, and she knew it would tackle her before the ball could reach her. So she jumped forward as more players rushed towards her. But her eyes focused on the ball, emitting such a strong presence that Mamori knew this was what she needed to find.
She heard the rattling grow stronger in her ears, sounding like there was thunder in her head. But Mamori lifted the sword high…
And sliced the ball in two.
She was falling now, and Mamori unwittingly winced, bracing herself for the hard hit of a tackle she knew was coming. Yet all she felt was the soft grass that greeted her once more and another loud noise filling the air. It was a different sort of noise now. It wasn’t mechanical, though it was thunderous. No, this noise felt a lot warmer now.
Like it could lift your spirits up.
Mamori looked around her and noticed she was by the field once more, but this time next to the bench. She looked at the field and saw actual players now, donning red and black and fighting against a team that was yellow and black.
“Come on, Devil Bats!” a familiar voice shouted near her. Mamori turned, and to her surprise found herself sitting by the bench, practically at the edge of her seat. Her hair was longer now, close to her shoulders and she wore a red shirt with black lines along the shoulders. She was looking at the game intently as she cheered the players on.
A loud whistle pierced through the air and the players stopped for a moment. Mamori saw the players huddle near a goal post, and without even questioning herself, Mamori knew that it was the team in red and black that were about to score. The noise was louder now, and Mamori knew these were the cheers from an audience that continued to surround her. Then she saw her other self get up as she scribbled on some piece of paper. Her other self looked at what she had written pensively, then looked towards the field…
And gave out the strange hand signals that Mamori herself had just done earlier.
Mamori quickly looked to see who her other self was sending the signals to, but she couldn’t see who it was.
In fact, to Mamori’s horror… she couldn’t see any of the player’s faces at all. For a moment, Mamori wondered if their face was covered, or they were too far for her that was the reason why she couldn’t see.
She found herself walking towards the players wearing red and black, despite the dangers of being on the field. Most of the player's on the field had their backs towards her. Suddenly one of them in a helmet turned around and Mamori gasped.
There was no face at all. The helmets had no visors, so she was sure she should have been able to see their faces. But there was nothing there.
“Let’s go Devil Bats!” she heard her other self shout from the back. But Mamori was overwhelmed by another strange emotion. Tears welled up in her eyes and blurred her current world into darkness, and she found herself falling.
“Oi, are you hurt?”
Her vision was teary as Mamori found herself in Hiruma’s arms. He was looking at her with a serious, concerned look on his face. “Hiruma…?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know…” Mamori felt the usual drain take over her body. “But that memory I just recovered… it didn’t seem right.”
“What was wrong? Didn’t you see yourself?”
“I saw myself… but…” Mamori closed her eyes, forcing her tears out. “I couldn’t see anyone else. Everyone’s face was a blur. I know I should be happy, I finally figured out what I used to do here in Deimon… and that game just now… it was called American Football, wasn’t it? But… that memory’s incomplete… and I don’t know why… it makes me so sad…”
She felt Hiruma’s arms wrap tightly around her now, his head was close to hers, but he didn’t say a word.
“Why?” Mamori sobbed. “Why was it incomplete, Hiruma? Why can’t I remember it all? Why…”
Hiruma looked down at Mamori to find that she had finally fallen asleep, their world back into the colourful blur. Hiruma gently wiped the tears from Mamori’s eyes as a figure now stood before him.
Sakura was silent as Hiruma continued to wipe Mamori’s tears with his fingers. “Is this how it’s supposed to go?” Hiruma spoke up. “Her memories won’t be fully recovered?”
“They will…” Sakura sighed. “But you know very well that not all of it will return. Not for now. There’s still many more adversities to face. Until then, her memories will be recovered like this, and they will leave her feeling even emptier.”
Hiruma was silent. Mamori’s face was now tear free but he could not look away from her. He kept silent for a few minutes, doing his best to go through his feelings without venting his anger at the figure before him. “I thought things were getting better…” Hiruma said, his voice breaking. “She was smiling, she was laughing, there was hope.”
“There’s always hope,” said Sakura. “But we are rushing to gather all her memories in time, that it will undoubtedly cause her a lot of confusion. She’s finally experiencing more emotions than before and there’s a chance they’ll break her. Even her body’s reacting on it’s own as the memories of her body recovers faster than her mind.” Sakura bent down and placed her right palm on Mamori’s forehead. Softly, she said, “I did warn you that this was possible… but you’ve both come so far now. There is no turning back. I can only pray for her safe recovery… and for yours, Hiruma-san.”
Hiruma looked at her, and though his face seemed stoic, Sakura could see he was breaking inside. “I suggest you rest as well…” she said as she lifted her index finger and gently touched Hiruma’s forehead. “You both have much more to face. But with each obstacle you break down, the closer you are to finally being free. And that is hope, Hiruma-san. A hope that even I, and everyone back at home, have for the both of you.”
Hiruma felt all energy drain from him, and the last face he saw was Sakura’s hopeful smile before blacking out and falling next to Mamori.
Chapter 6 | Chapter 8
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: And here's Chapter 7. I apologize for how long this fic took. This chapter was especially hard to write as I had to include some form of football that was vague and a little bit disorderly. I hope my writing isn't confusing in this chapter as it's pretty action based. Do let me know if I made any mistakes and I'll work on them. Thanks, and I do hope you enjoy this chapter!
~*~
As Mamori had expected, the sky was now a burning orange as the sun began to set. Curiosity made her wonder why her world’s days ended so quickly, but she marched on into Deimon, feeling certain that the answers will surely come to her once she gains more of her memories.
They were walking in the locker area with Hiruma following closely behind her, when Mamori sensed him shifting slightly off course and she turned around to look at him for a moment. He was eyeing their area with a strange look in his eyes. Mamori looked where his gaze seemed to linger, but couldn’t make out anything other than a bunch of lockers.
“Meet me by the lockers, I have something urgent to pass you.”
Mamori blinked as the words flitted in her mind and disappeared almost instantly. Did something important happen by the lockers?
“Oi, what the fuck are you waiting for?”
Hiruma was looking at her now, grin back in place. Mamori opened her mouth, ready to ask about Deimon, but she stopped herself. Even if Hiruma was her complete opposite and might hold more answers, surely her memories would come back to her in due time. That would have to wait. “Nothing,” she replied, shaking her head. “I was just thinking. Let’s keep going.”
They walked straight on with Mamori wondering if they should be heading into one of the classrooms, just like at her Middle School. But as she looked at the stairs, she felt a pull come from somewhere else. She then headed towards it, Hiruma still following close behind her.
She was now walking out of the school, across the school field. The sky had turned an ominous mix of purple and violet. It was getting really dark, and Mamori felt a twinge of fear within her heart as she wondered what could possibly be waiting for her out here. But she knew whatever she had to face wasn’t in the field. No, it was somewhere else…
She looked around and saw it, a small building close to the school and near the field. She could feel a presence growing stronger as she approached it. It was then that she noticed the huge, neon sign on the top of the building. Like a loud statement, the letters shone brightly before her emblazoning the word “WELCOME” with a cartoon-ish, evil looking red bat beside it. Mamori tilted her head curiously, “Deimon… Devil Bats?” she read aloud.
She heard Hiruma’s familiar cackle behind her. “What’s so funny?” she asked, turning to look at him. He quickly sobered down, a shadow of a smile left as he said, “It’s nothing, I just think this clubhouse looks ridiculous.”
Mamori looked at the clubhouse once again. “I… guess so. It doesn’t look like a clubhouse at all, it reminds me of things like casinos and places like Las Vegas…” Mamori stopped herself, eyes wide. “Eh?”
Hiruma also seemed pretty stunned by Mamori’s words. “What?”
“No, it’s just… strange, I don’t really remember how I know about Las Vegas.”
Hiruma merely nodded. “Just take things one step at a time,” was all he could say to her. “Now, are you going in there or not?”
Mamori took one more look at the neon sign, then at the sliding door before her. She nodded. “Yes… let’s go.”
Taking a few steps forward, Mamori held the door handle firmly in her hands. She was sure whatever she had to fight was right behind that door. Her heart was beating fast as she felt terror creep within her. It’s okay… she told herself. Everything will be all right… Her memories will return once this is over, and everything will be all right…
She slid open the door.
Mamori was confused at first. Everything inside was dark and hollow. Night had already claimed her world and the darkness seemed more terrifying than she could remember. Something wasn’t right, and the thought of it made her shiver.
“Oi, you okay?” Hiruma asked as he stepped up next to her.
She bit her lip. So much doubt was filling her right now as the darkness seemed to stare back at her. All the confidence she had earlier seemed to fade away. Was it trying to consume her again? No, Mamori knew there was something else going on in the darkness. She focused harder, trying to figure out where the source of this strange feeling was coming from…
Then she felt something strange coming from the ceiling, prompting her to look up. As she did, the hot bright field lights behind them turned on with a flash, shining into the clubhouse. Finally able to see, Mamori gasped.
There were bodies hanging from the ceiling.
Mamori almost screamed at the sight. At her expression, Hiruma grabbed her wrist. “They’re not real!” his words sliced through her fear.
Screaming in her mind, ‘how could they not be real?!’ She struggled to calm her nerves and forced a closer look at the hanging bodies, finally realizing they were cold and almost puppet like. They were mannequins, dressed in what Mamori could only think of at the moment as a sports uniform of different colours, heavily padded with their necks wrapped in ropes that seemed to come from an infinite darkness at the ceiling.
“I don’t get it…” Mamori spoke up. But then she heard a rattle coming from one of the mannequins. It looked as if a breeze had just passed by the mannequins, but Mamori felt nothing. She gripped on to her sword tightly. Hiruma had now let go of her wrist and held his guns ready.
Suddenly one of the mannequins crashed onto the floor, rope cut clean. Mamori let out a short scream. It was like a battered body with its joints bent in different directions. The rattling sound grew louder and Mamori heard more crashes. More of them were falling, spread across the entire floor.
Mamori could barely breathe. It was like a sea of dead bodies to her. This had become more terrifying than the ghost she’d first met, as she barely understood what was going on or what was going to happen. Even Hiruma seemed confused by the sight before him.
There was a short silence that seemed to pierce through the air when all the bodies had finally fallen. Mamori continued to hold her breath, just knowing something was going to happen.
And right on cue, one of the mannequins rattled and stood up. Mamori gasped, taking a step back. More of them were getting up now, and they were walking…
No, they were going to run right towards them. “RUN!” Mamori screamed at Hiruma, but it was too late. The mannequins rushed forward and tackled the both of them. She was desperately slashing her sword left and right and she could even hear Hiruma shooting at them, but none of their attacks left even a scratch on them. The mannequins had now lifted them both off the ground and dragged both Mamori and Hiruma with them.
Everything was a blur in the chaos that surrounded Mamori as she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly. She felt like she was screaming, but the thundering footsteps of the mannequins made it hard to hear. Where were they taking her? She could barely feel the ground, sandwiched between two mannequins as she was.
And without warning they released her abruptly on what felt like grass. Mamori coughed and gasped struggling to catch her breath. She opened her eyes, trying to focus on what was going on, until she finally realized where she was.
She was by the field she and Hiruma had passed by earlier. Only this time the mannequins occupied the field. Struck dumb by what she saw, she realized the mannequins weren’t really out to attack her. They’d practically dropped her on the side of the field.
Then she noticed that the mannequins were fighting with each other. Some were tackling each other to the ground, others seemed to be running around, avoiding each other, some stood waiting and took action the moment another mannequin came close.
They were all scrambling for something. Mamori stood on shaky legs, using her sword to support her. She watched carefully to see what they were all after… it was something small and had an angular shape…
Mamori’s eyes flew wide open as she realized it was some sort of ball. Was this a game? As Mamori looked at the ball carefully, it dawned unto her that the ball was the source of power she needed to break. Upon realizing this, Mamori looked around her, desperately looking for Hiruma so she could tell him this.
Her eyes located him on the opposite side of the field, looking pretty beaten up. Mamori was sure she looked just about the same. She needed to get to him, so when she was sure the mannequins were distracted, she moved towards the field, hoping she could run across before the strange mannequins realized her presence…
Just as she stepped onto the field, Hiruma shouted at her. She couldn’t hear what he said, but she knew danger was coming. She turned quickly to find one mannequin rushing towards her, ready to tackle her to the ground. Mamori let out a scream as she held her sword before her. The mannequin seemed to only take a light blow as Mamori swung her sword at it, but it was enough to distract him as Mamori took a few steps back. She was ready to take another swing at it, when she realized that the mannequin wasn’t after her anymore. It was off attacking another mannequin.
Mamori was terribly confused by then. Hiruma was shouting at her, but the mannequins’ thundering footsteps and the distance between them made it hard for her to understand him. “I can’t hear you!” she shouted, but her voice was easily drowned out by the noise.
A cold shiver ran through Mamori’s body. Things were chaotic and Hiruma was not by her side. What were they going to do? Mamori took a deep breath, desperate to calm herself down. It seemed as though if Mamori even tried to get towards Hiruma, those mannequins would attack, but why did it stop attacking her when she backed out?
Mamori looked at the ground and noticed she was just behind a white line painted on the grass. Mamori then looked at Hiruma and realized that he, too, was standing behind a white line. Mamori’s eyes widened with realization.
Of course! These mannequins were players, and the moment she or even Hiruma stepped on the actual field, these players would treat them like any other player and attack. This made things a lot harder, as Mamori knew she had to get the ball, and there was no way of doing this easily without the chance of getting attacked.
Mamori was forced to observe the players now as she tried to see if there was some sort of opening she could use to find her way into the field and grab the ball before being tackled into the ground. She wasn’t sure what game this was, though something in her nagged that she should. For now, she knew she had to at least understand the nature of this game.
There were a number of players that kept tackling each other, but Mamori noted that a few of them did little to no tackling. They merely blocked a tackling player with their shoulders and would run with the ball. Then she noticed they would pass the ball to another player and that player would throw the ball to the other side of the field. That was when another player on the other side of the field would catch it and try to run towards the goal post, but another player would run and snatch the ball away and rush straight into the bunch of players that were tackling, blocking Mamori’s view of where the ball was. Then another player would emerge with the ball, running towards the player that throws and it would do the same thing again….
That was when it hit her. There was a pattern. A very simple pattern. Mamori considered running straight at the moment when the player throws the ball and slicing the ball in half before it reaches the one catching… but as this was done in the middle of the field, Mamori knew being tackled would be a high risk if she did that. Mamori bit her lip, she wasn’t sure what she had to do.
Suddenly, Hiruma was running across the field. Mamori gasped as she saw a number of players rush towards him, but he was running fast enough to evade them for now. Was he running towards her? At that moment, the player that throws had just got the ball and was now aiming to the other side of the field where Hiruma was.
Mamori gasped as she saw how close Hiruma was to being tackled, but he jumped at that precise moment, arms stretched high into the air and he caught the ball in midair. He quickly landed onto his feet, and tucked the ball tightly under his armpit as he ran to evade the players trying to take him down.
Then Hiruma turned and threw the ball to the other end of the field to where Mamori was, and she was shocked to see how far the ball was going. The pattern was broken now, and a number of players scrambled to adapt to the change as now another player stood in front of Mamori, ready to catch the ball.
Mamori took note of this quickly but heard a huge rattling sound that made her jump. Mamori clapped her hand against her mouth as Hiruma was nowhere to be found on the field, but there was a big pile of mannequins where he was supposed to be.
“HIRUMA!” she screamed. The players slowly got up to reveal Hiruma lying down. One player was dragging him by his feet and was pulling him to the other side of the field, away from Mamori. It was obvious that these mannequins knew Hiruma was not an actual player, but Mamori also felt certain that they were keeping him away from her on purpose.
This wasn’t going to help much. Even so, that display had shown her that Hiruma was capable of throwing the ball quite a distance and she knew they could utilize that skill to get the ball towards her and destroy it before one of the players got to it. There was no way of communicating all that to Hiruma with mere words. She had to find some other way to do so.
Mamori waved frantically at Hiruma, who got groggily to his feet. His expression belied the hint of a smirk on his lips that Mamori could make out even from this distance. She paused, concerned, after all he’d just been taken down… but before she could further contemplate, Hiruma looked straight at her. She had obviously caught his attention.
She had to make him do that one more time. So she lifted her index finger to say “One more time” and then she swung her arms by her side to show that he should run towards the field and do it again. Then she pointed at the other end of the field and then herself to say that he had to throw the ball at her. Hiruma looked confused at first, but a grin soon blossomed on his face that quickly turned to laughter. Mamori could only stomp her feet in frustration. “Urgh, Hiruma!” she grumbled. Now wasn’t the time to laugh at her attempts to communicate!
But it seemed as though Hiruma understood her. He got up and was watching the ball carefully now, and even Mamori set herself ready as she rushed to the end of the field where she hoped she could get the ball before it reached the player who catches.
Just as the player was about to throw the ball to the side where Hiruma was, Mamori noticed the mistake she was making. She had hoped that Hiruma would throw the ball to the edge of the field so Mamori could only take a few steps and slice the ball before the players could touch her.
But now a player had taken its position very close to where Mamori was. There was no doubt she was going to get tackled. But before she could signal to Hiruma to stop the plan for a moment so she could rethink this, he was already on the field and rushing forward as the player prepared to throw the ball.
Mamori panicked. She had to tell him she was going to rush across the right side of the field as fast as she could so he could aim there, or else he was going to aim to where she was and not only would the ball be intercepted, they would both get tackled.
Hiruma was turning, ready to look out for the ball. Mamori bit her lip. There was no time for silly charades, she had to come up with a way to tell him… quickly! Think!
Without realizing it, Mamori had raised her right hand towards Hiruma. This caught his attention once more, but Mamori knew she had to be quick. Without realizing it, some of her fingers were folding, and her palm was moving from side to side in a quick manner. She wasn’t even sure what she was doing, then when it hit her that she was distracting him, she quickly pulled her right hand straight towards her chest.
Hiruma was wide-eyed at Mamori’s attempt to communicate with him, but he quickly stopped in his tracks. He grinned as he jumped to catch the ball, and he tilted his head to tell her, “Get going, already.”
Mamori was dumbfounded. She wasn’t sure if Hiruma got the message. But she was going to have to trust him. Sword tightly in hand, Mamori rushed to the right side of the field.
She was sure Hiruma had already thrown the ball, but she could not see if it was where she wanted him to throw. For now, she was too busy avoiding the thundering herd heading towards her. One small player attempted to do so, but she pushed it away with her sword. The sword did no damage to it, but it gave her enough time to turn and hold her sword ready, praying hard that Hiruma threw the ball in the right direction.
And like a miracle that felt like it came straight from a dream, the ball was flying right towards her.
One player was behind her now, and she knew it would tackle her before the ball could reach her. So she jumped forward as more players rushed towards her. But her eyes focused on the ball, emitting such a strong presence that Mamori knew this was what she needed to find.
She heard the rattling grow stronger in her ears, sounding like there was thunder in her head. But Mamori lifted the sword high…
And sliced the ball in two.
She was falling now, and Mamori unwittingly winced, bracing herself for the hard hit of a tackle she knew was coming. Yet all she felt was the soft grass that greeted her once more and another loud noise filling the air. It was a different sort of noise now. It wasn’t mechanical, though it was thunderous. No, this noise felt a lot warmer now.
Like it could lift your spirits up.
Mamori looked around her and noticed she was by the field once more, but this time next to the bench. She looked at the field and saw actual players now, donning red and black and fighting against a team that was yellow and black.
“Come on, Devil Bats!” a familiar voice shouted near her. Mamori turned, and to her surprise found herself sitting by the bench, practically at the edge of her seat. Her hair was longer now, close to her shoulders and she wore a red shirt with black lines along the shoulders. She was looking at the game intently as she cheered the players on.
A loud whistle pierced through the air and the players stopped for a moment. Mamori saw the players huddle near a goal post, and without even questioning herself, Mamori knew that it was the team in red and black that were about to score. The noise was louder now, and Mamori knew these were the cheers from an audience that continued to surround her. Then she saw her other self get up as she scribbled on some piece of paper. Her other self looked at what she had written pensively, then looked towards the field…
And gave out the strange hand signals that Mamori herself had just done earlier.
Mamori quickly looked to see who her other self was sending the signals to, but she couldn’t see who it was.
In fact, to Mamori’s horror… she couldn’t see any of the player’s faces at all. For a moment, Mamori wondered if their face was covered, or they were too far for her that was the reason why she couldn’t see.
She found herself walking towards the players wearing red and black, despite the dangers of being on the field. Most of the player's on the field had their backs towards her. Suddenly one of them in a helmet turned around and Mamori gasped.
There was no face at all. The helmets had no visors, so she was sure she should have been able to see their faces. But there was nothing there.
“Let’s go Devil Bats!” she heard her other self shout from the back. But Mamori was overwhelmed by another strange emotion. Tears welled up in her eyes and blurred her current world into darkness, and she found herself falling.
“Oi, are you hurt?”
Her vision was teary as Mamori found herself in Hiruma’s arms. He was looking at her with a serious, concerned look on his face. “Hiruma…?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know…” Mamori felt the usual drain take over her body. “But that memory I just recovered… it didn’t seem right.”
“What was wrong? Didn’t you see yourself?”
“I saw myself… but…” Mamori closed her eyes, forcing her tears out. “I couldn’t see anyone else. Everyone’s face was a blur. I know I should be happy, I finally figured out what I used to do here in Deimon… and that game just now… it was called American Football, wasn’t it? But… that memory’s incomplete… and I don’t know why… it makes me so sad…”
She felt Hiruma’s arms wrap tightly around her now, his head was close to hers, but he didn’t say a word.
“Why?” Mamori sobbed. “Why was it incomplete, Hiruma? Why can’t I remember it all? Why…”
Hiruma looked down at Mamori to find that she had finally fallen asleep, their world back into the colourful blur. Hiruma gently wiped the tears from Mamori’s eyes as a figure now stood before him.
Sakura was silent as Hiruma continued to wipe Mamori’s tears with his fingers. “Is this how it’s supposed to go?” Hiruma spoke up. “Her memories won’t be fully recovered?”
“They will…” Sakura sighed. “But you know very well that not all of it will return. Not for now. There’s still many more adversities to face. Until then, her memories will be recovered like this, and they will leave her feeling even emptier.”
Hiruma was silent. Mamori’s face was now tear free but he could not look away from her. He kept silent for a few minutes, doing his best to go through his feelings without venting his anger at the figure before him. “I thought things were getting better…” Hiruma said, his voice breaking. “She was smiling, she was laughing, there was hope.”
“There’s always hope,” said Sakura. “But we are rushing to gather all her memories in time, that it will undoubtedly cause her a lot of confusion. She’s finally experiencing more emotions than before and there’s a chance they’ll break her. Even her body’s reacting on it’s own as the memories of her body recovers faster than her mind.” Sakura bent down and placed her right palm on Mamori’s forehead. Softly, she said, “I did warn you that this was possible… but you’ve both come so far now. There is no turning back. I can only pray for her safe recovery… and for yours, Hiruma-san.”
Hiruma looked at her, and though his face seemed stoic, Sakura could see he was breaking inside. “I suggest you rest as well…” she said as she lifted her index finger and gently touched Hiruma’s forehead. “You both have much more to face. But with each obstacle you break down, the closer you are to finally being free. And that is hope, Hiruma-san. A hope that even I, and everyone back at home, have for the both of you.”
Hiruma felt all energy drain from him, and the last face he saw was Sakura’s hopeful smile before blacking out and falling next to Mamori.
Chapter 6 | Chapter 8