[Fanfic] Remember [Chapter 13]
Title: Remember [Chapter 13]
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: In a volatile world where even his black book holds no power, Hiruma must help Mamori fight and recover her lost memories before he loses her forever. AU. Crossover. HiruMamo.
Notes: I'm so sorry for all of you who have been waiting for this chapter! I realise now that for my chaptered fics it takes about a month for each one to be released, as not only do I have TWO chaptered fics to work on, but I do write HiruMamo one shots when I get the chance. And I still need a break here and there as real life is starting to put loads of pressure on me, so I have a lot on my plate.
But as I have promised before, I am NOT giving up on this fic, so don't worry. Just be patient with me a little more, and I promise you I will have the next chapter of this fic done soon enough. If you're wondering which fic I might be working on in that week, come check out my twitter as I will post what I'm writing on as well as how far it's done and if it's been sent to moodylollipop to go through. Bless her, she's still doing her best to support me despite being busy herself!
Until then, enjoy this chapter and err... don't... kill me... I'll talk a bit more at the end of it. XD
~*~
Mamori could not believe this was happening to her. Especially now at a time where she knew she most needed to fight back. The flame-like children were approaching her, and yet her feet felt frozen to the ground. Despite being able to retain a firm grip on her sword, it felt heavy and made her arm lie limp at her side. And no matter how close the flames were, or how terribly hot it was getting, her eyes kept darting towards the kindergarten, her heart aching at the fact that Hiruma had just left her on her own.
Why...?
One of the flame children reached out and grabbed her wrist, causing her to scream out in pain and stumble, falling flat on her back. She quickly sat up and tried to swipe one of the approaching flames with her sword, but her arm still felt sluggishly heavy and the sword merely made a feeble stab as if through a mirage. She began to feel a ring of pain around her wrist, she wasn't sure how badly burnt she was, but she knew there wasn’t going to be anything she could do if she didn’t try to help herself now. The flames were approaching her, what looked like their arms reaching for her legs...
Why... why can't my body move...? What am I so scared of...?
BANG!
Mamori gasped as she heard a gunshot go off inside the kindergarten. Her back straightened and she instinctively tried to stand up, desperately trying to get a glimpse of him and hoping to figure out what was going on inside. But then her legs buckled once more as small flame hands got hold of her ankles and legs.
She screamed. But she realised it wasn't out of pain, but out of a deep, cold fear she never recalled having before. The flames were bringing out flashes of memories, each one passing so quickly, each giving her short moments of sharp white pain that stunned her and blinded her vision temporarily.
This terrified her. She cried out before finally falling straight back on her back, so afraid to move, allowing the pain to claim her. There was nothing she could do. She was going to be burnt, and everything would be over. Hiruma wasn't with her to save her now, and no amount of hope she could muster could help her up. It was all over.
Sensei...
Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the gray sky above her. Wasn't it sunny before? Ah... but it'll soon turn dark... and then...
Sensei, pull yourself together!
Help us!
Don't give up!
Whose voices were those? She could hear more gunshots in the distance, fading as her eyesight blurred with tears. She could feel the flames reaching up to her torso as she lay on the ground, unable to scream despite the scorching pain. Was the darkness taking over now? But who was talking to her?
Sensei, please don't go! Come back to us!
Save us, sensei! We're so scared!
Don't leave us, sensei!
Anezaki-sensei!
Mamori felt herself being pulled out of her dark thoughts with each call towards her. Her sight cleared but the lower part of her body still felt heavy. She lifted her head to see a nest of flames lying on her body, but she could see the outlines of children's heads looking at her as the voices grew louder, accompanied with sobs of fear.
Sensei, why is this happening?
What happened to you, sensei?
Sensei!!
Despite the fact that they were nothing but flames, and they were burning her, Mamori pushed herself to sit up. Whoever they were, they were crying out to her tearfully... and she was certain now that they were children that were familiar to her. Whose children? How did she know them? Every time she tried to recall those memories, a sharp white pain would hit her, each one bringing her close to passing out.
The sound of gunshots grew more frantic within the kindergarten. She had to do something quick.
She looked at the flames, slowly forcing herself to face the agony it was bringing and reached out a hand towards one of the flamed heads.
"Don't cry..." she whispered, her mouth finally able to form words though her mind felt completely blank. "I'm right here... Sensei is right here... so don't..."
The pain had become unbearable now. Mamori let out a cry, and began to sob herself. She coughed and gasped as she felt her vision finally leave her, until all she could feel were just tears running down her cheeks and the flames eating her up. The children were now screaming.
Don't cry.
Mamori thought it was finally the end, as she could see nothing but darkness. She didn't feel the flames anymore. The pain had disappeared and the places where the flames once were on her body felt cool and comforting... but instead of reverting back into that feeling of nothingness, another feeling began to surface. A familiar one...
Mamori quickly opened her eyes to see the gray sky once more, but this time she was greeted by rain drops falling gently upon her. Still lying on the ground confused, she clenched her fist, slowly feeling her strength coming back. Finally, she felt herself fully returning into this world.
She gasped as she sat up, and found small shadows before her, there were quiet sobs and cries as the shadows continued to look at her. Sensei...? she heard one of them say.
Mamori continued to cry, though she smiled through her sobs. Hiruma's words of comfort, of it being all right to cry came to her. "Hey, everyone," she spoke to the shadows as they continued to look at her. "I know at times... that it's important to be strong. All the adults will tell you that because they want to be strong for you too. But... you know..." She felt a mix of emotions fill her and she began cry harder. Her voice strained as she continued, "It's all right to be weak. It's all right to be sad once in a while. The sun will come out soon enough... so for now... Sensei... Sensei will..."
The scenery changed and Mamori could see the shadows change into actual children. To her surprise, they ran up to her and each one did their best to hold her, hug her as they screamed excitedly, "Anezaki-sensei!!"
Mamori looked around her and soon memories of her time as a kindergarten teacher trickled into her mind. The times she would teach the alphabets, the times she would sing along with another teacher who played the organ, the times she would try to help her students draw cute animals only to be greeted with laughter...
Mamori cried some more. That's right... this one was clear to her.
She was a Kindergarten Teacher.
"Sensei, why are you still crying?" asked one of the little girls. "Are you hurt?"
"No, Hana-chan," Mamori laughed as she brushed the girl's cheek. "I'm crying because I'm happy. I don't know why you all can hold me, but it means so much to me to have you all here."
"Sensei, why did you leave us?" asked one of the boys who was hugging her from the back.
"Yeah, we were all so scared when you left!" said another boy.
"I don't know, Yuu-chan, Kazu-chan," Mamori slowly wiped her tears away. "I'm hoping I'll find out what really happened."
"Sensei! I know you'll come back to us! We're waiting for you!" cried one of the girls.
"Thank you, Tama-chan," Mamori smiled at them happily. "I'll do my best to come back."
"Sensei!"
Mamori turned to see one boy who didn't come to hug her but stood near the gates of the kindergarten. He smiled at her confidently with his messy brown hair and brown eyes. "You'll definitely come back, Anezaki-sensei. You've come this far and we all believe in you! But right now your most important person needs you. And also... you need to save one more person."
"One more?" Mamori looked at him curiously. "What do you mean, Tsu-chan?"
The boy pointed straight at Mamori at first, then he turned and pointed inside the kindergarten and the scenery returned into its gray state. The children had disappeared and it was merely drizzling at that moment.
Her tears had finally stopped, and Mamori instinctively placed a palm on her chest, as she felt something strange stirring within her. But all she needed was to hear another gunshot before she grabbed her sword and quickly ran into the kindergarten.
Hiruma slammed into the blackboard, leaving a trail of blood on it as he slid down to his knees. Deep laughter echoed through the room as the Mamori look-alike sauntered forward, brandishing her now bloodied sword.
"I don't know why you're fighting me in this state," she said, as she cocked her head with a grin. "You're obviously running out of time in this world and it looks like you're close to leaving it too, and though you've shot me many times and have stopped me occasionally, you've yet to slow me down or destroy me in any way. I'm pretty sure you don't have the power to really kill me either. So why are you still trying?"
Hiruma looked at her and saw black holes riddled her body, though they did nothing to slow her down. Although Hiruma had found at least one temporary weakness in his attempt to figure her out, it had come at a high price as his body had begun to weaken. She had managed to slash at his limbs as his guns proved little defense when she succeeded in coming up close, and the wounds inflicted on him had restricted his movements even more.
There was only one thing left to do.
"I fucking told you," said Hiruma, his breathing slow though heavy. "I wanted answers."
"Here's an answer for you," said the girl as she bent, inching her face closer to Hiruma’s. "Stop fighting all this. You know it would be much easier to succumb to the darkness and forget everything. You won't feel all this pain anymore when you're there, you won't feel a thing. You'd be safe, all the fears you've been experiencing for so long after the incident will be gone. So come..."
Her voice lulled Hiruma temporarily as he looked into her eyes. They were Mamori's eyes, and for a moment he could see the real Mamori in them, all her fears embodied within. The fake Mamori reached her hand out slowly to touch Hiruma's face, and he raised his arm to hold her...
BANG!
Using his other hand, Hiruma grabbed his gun and had shot her straight in the heart. She screamed, and like the many times he had shot her before, showed her true self in the form of a shadow, dark and beast-like before regaining her form. Her eyes flashed red in anger as she positioned her sword and rushed towards Hiruma, but he quickly evaded it with as much strength as he could muster and continued to shoot at her. With a few more shots, he watched as she finally burst into a weaker shadow form and rushed into the shadows.
Hiruma wasn’t surprised as this had happened earlier, and Hiruma knew she was just regaining herself before attacking once more. At least he had this temporary break to pull himself together, but the more blood he lost, the harder it was to focus. This is where things get dangerous... Hiruma knew he had just one last chance.
"Why're you after her?" he finally asked, looking around the classroom where the shadows were. His blood was dripping on the floor... time was running up too quickly. "There was no sign of her ever becoming like this... where you could claim her."
"That's because you don't know her," a voice whispered in the air. "She hid it from you. She didn't want you to know how broken up she really was, how she felt like she was losing all hope and that nothing could save her."
"You're lying!" Hiruma cried out as he held his guns out, knowing she would appear soon. "She was fine, she knew everything would be all right! You did something to her, I know it!"
"Oh, it wasn't me..." the voice replied, though it sounded stronger now. "I didn't have to do anything. She already had all those feelings within her that all it took was someone whom I’ve already claimed as my own to have some link with her, and she was mine. That someone did this to her... and that's who I'm really after. Once I get her, the one that you love will be mine. So you might as well join her."
"What?" Hiruma dropped his guard as the meaning of what she’d just said hit him. "No... you don't mean that-!"
He heard her coming from behind a second too late, and he knew he couldn't dodge her. Still, he tried to sidestep away but felt her sword glance his side. He grimaced and tried to shoot her, but she easily stayed clear of his aim, rushing in at him while moving quickly from side to side, slashing his clothes and leaving long thin lines of blood across his skin. Hiruma knocked her sword away from himself with one of his guns, but in his exhaustion caught one of his hands on the blade, leaving a gash across the back of his hand.
It was an opportunity she pounced upon, knocking the gun out of his left hand. And Hiruma instinctively tightened his grip on the gun in his right hand, his knuckles whitening. She was pushing him into a corner with each stab towards him.
Come on, just a little bit closer...
As the Fake Mamori took a step back and looked down the point of her sword at him, Hiruma saw an opening to shoot her right in the head and quickly raised his gun to aim.
"HIRUMA!"
The familiarity of a voice he’d learnt to trust, and to love, over the years broke through his already weakening focus and without thinking; Hiruma averted his eyes to the door of the classroom...
And felt a hot piercing pain stab through his body.
He didn't have time to think. He saw Mamori standing at the door, her face frozen in a silent scream at the sight before her. He glanced at the fake Mamori, who wore a maniacal grin at her success. This was it. He had run out of time.
"Last chance," the fake Mamori whispered. "Come to me."
Hiruma wanted to laugh, but the blood building up in his throat made it hard to do so. He mustered the last of his strength to say "Fuck off," blood dribbling down his chin as he raised his gun quickly and shot her face multiple times.
She screamed once more and disappeared into the shadows. The sword disappeared along with her, leaving his gaping wound to bleed profusely.
"No..." Mamori was shaking all over as she watched Hiruma fall. "NOOO!!"
She ran to him, and reached out to hold his back before he fell to the ground. "HIRUMA!" she screamed, as she fell with him and let him rest on her lap. His body felt lifeless, and she panicked when she noticed he wasn't moving. "Hiruma, no! This can't be happening! Why are you bleeding so much? Oh no..." She placed a hand on the gaping wound, panicking as more blood gushed out. Her eyes strayed at the rest of the wounds he had, and she choked on her sobs as she couldn’t understand how this could have happened. "Y-you're just something my mind created, so why are you bleeding? I've never... not since I came here... I've never seen so much..."
"I lied..."
Mamori raised her panicked eyes from his wound to look at his face, now pale and sunken. "Hiru... ma?"
He used the last of his strength to open his eyes to look at her once more. She was terrified, and she couldn't stop shaking. He wanted so badly to touch her once more, to hold her and tell her so many things. But he could feel himself being pulled away. "I lied," he repeated. "I'm one of those waiting for you too."
"W-what are you saying?" Mamori felt her tears spilling again. She held him tighter to her, unwilling to let him go as she felt him barely breathing. "Hiruma, don't leave me! I still need you here! I'm scared!"
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he lost even the effort to keep his eyes open. He closed his eyes and slowly allowed himself to sink into the darkness, thinking and worrying for a moment of what Mamori was about to face. Yet he used the last of his breath to utter, "But I know you'll get through this. I believe in you... So damn it... come back to me...
Mamori."
And right before her eyes, Hiruma disappeared.
The blood, and even the bloodstains on her clothes and on the floor, everything disappeared. All that was left was Mamori, sitting on the cold floor, shocked, confused and unable to feel anything other than an emptiness that rang through her. Her eyes wandered over everything in her surroundings desperately looking for something her mind could grasp on to, wondering what was going on, who the other Mamori was and why did she hurt Hiruma...
Then she spotted the velveteen box where Hiruma had just laid.
She reached out a hand, at first to touch and then, instinctively, her fingers closed around it. And the scenery around her changed instantly. She was in a room she didn't recognise at first, but slowly memories that were repressed emerged. She had been here before! She tried to figure out who was her important person here with Cerberus until...
She heard a shuffling in the bed and Mamori stood up and turned to see two people were lying in it. One person was awake, and the other was still in a deep sleep. She recognized the person who was awake, looking older and gruffer than she had ever seen him. "Hiruma..." she found herself whispering.
The other person who was sleeping grumbled for a moment before peeking her familiar head out of the comforter. Then Mamori saw her shriek as she got up. "Oh no, I'm late!"
Hiruma quickly grabbed the long haired, older Mamori and pulled her back into the bed. "Relax, it's a Sunday."
"But breakfast...!" Older Mamori struggled. Hiruma merely hugged her and held her close.
"We'll just go out later, I'll pay," he said as Mamori squirmed in his arms. "Besides, I'm not done with last night," he grinned.
"Urgh, it's your fault I woke up this late!" Mamori playfully punched his chest, but Hiruma merely cackled in reply. "Really... I know it's rare for the both of us to have a day off at the same time, but wasn't that a bit overboard?"
"Are you fucking kidding me? I think this is the perfect way to spend our free time together," he grinned.
Mamori watched as her older self pouted in disapproval, then she giggled and kissed Hiruma lightly on the lips. "Fine," she said. "I'll let you have it your way just for today. The next time we're free, you'll have to do what I say."
"And how will you make me spend that day, making cupcakes?"
"Really now, I am not that mean! I'll just be making creampuffs of course!"
"Damn it, woman," Hiruma drew his face closer to hers seductively. "I am NOT looking forward to that day of yours. So I better make this day worth my while."
"Don't start, you'll tire me out..." Older Mamori pulled away from his embrace and moved her head across the pillow when Mamori noticed her older self looked shocked and confused. Then watched as she reached a hand under the pillow...
And pulled out a velveteen box.
"Eh?" Older Mamori inspected the box. "What is this?"
"You know what it is," said Hiruma, wearing a different sort of grin on his face. A more gentle, happy expression the real Mamori found fascinating. "It's something I've been promising you for a long while. Took too fucking long, I admit. But don't start bitching about the quality and shit. I know you're not the type, but I have no idea how you'll be like at the idea of this and whether you do care about the quality..."
Older Mamori had turned her back on Hiruma, still holding on to the velveteen box as Hiruma spoke. She had continued to keep her back to him while he spoke so that Hiruma soon began to get nervous and scooted closer to her to see what she was doing...
To find that she was already wearing the ring. And she had the biggest smile real Mamori had ever seen. Content, Hiruma lied down, wrapping his arms around her waist and buried his face in her hair, both of them not saying a word as they sank into the moment. "So..." Hiruma finally said.
"So..." Older Mamori replied, still smiling brightly as she held her left hand out to look at the ring.
"I see you really like that."
"I like it... because of what it means."
"And do you know that meaning?"
Older Mamori closed her eyes and pulled her left hand to her chest. She placed her right palm on Hiruma's hand that held her waist gently and whispered, "Yes..."
Mamori felt a pain stab through her at that moment as she watched the scenery began to blur.
"We'll always be..."
"No," Mamori whispered, shaking her head as fresh tears poured down her face. "No..."
"Together."
Mamori fell to her knees as the scenery changed back to the classroom and the velveteen box lay on the floor in front of her as before. Mamori continued to shake, feeling as if her own heart was being stabbed over and over again. Hiruma was... Hiruma was...
With trembling hands, Mamori opened the velveteen box and found the ring with a simple studded diamond in it. She shivered as she pulled the ring out of the box and then placed it on her left ring finger. And instantly memories of Hiruma filled her mind. The player on the football field. The person at the party. In the pictures. It was all him. And then memories of Hiruma in this world, continuously supporting her, injuring himself in the process to save her, worrying over her to make sure she would return...
A rush of emotion swept through her. It was impossible to contain.
"You.. ichi..." her voice shook as she whispered his name.
And then she broke into a cold, terrifying scream as she felt the world around her begin to break.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
~*~
Extra Notes: .... I think I'm going to get killed. I'm going to get killed, aren't I?! *hides* It's all right! Everything will be all right! Everything is going to get explained in the next chapter, I promise! Everything will finally be revealed in the next one, in which if all goes well, will be pretty long. Eh? Release it NOW? I haven't.. but I still have... *gets shot* OKAY! OKAY! I'll release the next chapter for this one as soon as possible! Thank you all for your continued support and do be patient with me! If all goes well, this will be up sooner rather than in a month's time. I'm totally excited to write what happens next. Are you excited to read it? :)
Chapter 12 | Chapter 14
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: In a volatile world where even his black book holds no power, Hiruma must help Mamori fight and recover her lost memories before he loses her forever. AU. Crossover. HiruMamo.
Notes: I'm so sorry for all of you who have been waiting for this chapter! I realise now that for my chaptered fics it takes about a month for each one to be released, as not only do I have TWO chaptered fics to work on, but I do write HiruMamo one shots when I get the chance. And I still need a break here and there as real life is starting to put loads of pressure on me, so I have a lot on my plate.
But as I have promised before, I am NOT giving up on this fic, so don't worry. Just be patient with me a little more, and I promise you I will have the next chapter of this fic done soon enough. If you're wondering which fic I might be working on in that week, come check out my twitter as I will post what I'm writing on as well as how far it's done and if it's been sent to moodylollipop to go through. Bless her, she's still doing her best to support me despite being busy herself!
Until then, enjoy this chapter and err... don't... kill me... I'll talk a bit more at the end of it. XD
~*~
Mamori could not believe this was happening to her. Especially now at a time where she knew she most needed to fight back. The flame-like children were approaching her, and yet her feet felt frozen to the ground. Despite being able to retain a firm grip on her sword, it felt heavy and made her arm lie limp at her side. And no matter how close the flames were, or how terribly hot it was getting, her eyes kept darting towards the kindergarten, her heart aching at the fact that Hiruma had just left her on her own.
Why...?
One of the flame children reached out and grabbed her wrist, causing her to scream out in pain and stumble, falling flat on her back. She quickly sat up and tried to swipe one of the approaching flames with her sword, but her arm still felt sluggishly heavy and the sword merely made a feeble stab as if through a mirage. She began to feel a ring of pain around her wrist, she wasn't sure how badly burnt she was, but she knew there wasn’t going to be anything she could do if she didn’t try to help herself now. The flames were approaching her, what looked like their arms reaching for her legs...
Why... why can't my body move...? What am I so scared of...?
BANG!
Mamori gasped as she heard a gunshot go off inside the kindergarten. Her back straightened and she instinctively tried to stand up, desperately trying to get a glimpse of him and hoping to figure out what was going on inside. But then her legs buckled once more as small flame hands got hold of her ankles and legs.
She screamed. But she realised it wasn't out of pain, but out of a deep, cold fear she never recalled having before. The flames were bringing out flashes of memories, each one passing so quickly, each giving her short moments of sharp white pain that stunned her and blinded her vision temporarily.
This terrified her. She cried out before finally falling straight back on her back, so afraid to move, allowing the pain to claim her. There was nothing she could do. She was going to be burnt, and everything would be over. Hiruma wasn't with her to save her now, and no amount of hope she could muster could help her up. It was all over.
Sensei...
Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the gray sky above her. Wasn't it sunny before? Ah... but it'll soon turn dark... and then...
Sensei, pull yourself together!
Help us!
Don't give up!
Whose voices were those? She could hear more gunshots in the distance, fading as her eyesight blurred with tears. She could feel the flames reaching up to her torso as she lay on the ground, unable to scream despite the scorching pain. Was the darkness taking over now? But who was talking to her?
Sensei, please don't go! Come back to us!
Save us, sensei! We're so scared!
Don't leave us, sensei!
Anezaki-sensei!
Mamori felt herself being pulled out of her dark thoughts with each call towards her. Her sight cleared but the lower part of her body still felt heavy. She lifted her head to see a nest of flames lying on her body, but she could see the outlines of children's heads looking at her as the voices grew louder, accompanied with sobs of fear.
Sensei, why is this happening?
What happened to you, sensei?
Sensei!!
Despite the fact that they were nothing but flames, and they were burning her, Mamori pushed herself to sit up. Whoever they were, they were crying out to her tearfully... and she was certain now that they were children that were familiar to her. Whose children? How did she know them? Every time she tried to recall those memories, a sharp white pain would hit her, each one bringing her close to passing out.
The sound of gunshots grew more frantic within the kindergarten. She had to do something quick.
She looked at the flames, slowly forcing herself to face the agony it was bringing and reached out a hand towards one of the flamed heads.
"Don't cry..." she whispered, her mouth finally able to form words though her mind felt completely blank. "I'm right here... Sensei is right here... so don't..."
The pain had become unbearable now. Mamori let out a cry, and began to sob herself. She coughed and gasped as she felt her vision finally leave her, until all she could feel were just tears running down her cheeks and the flames eating her up. The children were now screaming.
Don't cry.
Mamori thought it was finally the end, as she could see nothing but darkness. She didn't feel the flames anymore. The pain had disappeared and the places where the flames once were on her body felt cool and comforting... but instead of reverting back into that feeling of nothingness, another feeling began to surface. A familiar one...
Mamori quickly opened her eyes to see the gray sky once more, but this time she was greeted by rain drops falling gently upon her. Still lying on the ground confused, she clenched her fist, slowly feeling her strength coming back. Finally, she felt herself fully returning into this world.
She gasped as she sat up, and found small shadows before her, there were quiet sobs and cries as the shadows continued to look at her. Sensei...? she heard one of them say.
Mamori continued to cry, though she smiled through her sobs. Hiruma's words of comfort, of it being all right to cry came to her. "Hey, everyone," she spoke to the shadows as they continued to look at her. "I know at times... that it's important to be strong. All the adults will tell you that because they want to be strong for you too. But... you know..." She felt a mix of emotions fill her and she began cry harder. Her voice strained as she continued, "It's all right to be weak. It's all right to be sad once in a while. The sun will come out soon enough... so for now... Sensei... Sensei will..."
The scenery changed and Mamori could see the shadows change into actual children. To her surprise, they ran up to her and each one did their best to hold her, hug her as they screamed excitedly, "Anezaki-sensei!!"
Mamori looked around her and soon memories of her time as a kindergarten teacher trickled into her mind. The times she would teach the alphabets, the times she would sing along with another teacher who played the organ, the times she would try to help her students draw cute animals only to be greeted with laughter...
Mamori cried some more. That's right... this one was clear to her.
She was a Kindergarten Teacher.
"Sensei, why are you still crying?" asked one of the little girls. "Are you hurt?"
"No, Hana-chan," Mamori laughed as she brushed the girl's cheek. "I'm crying because I'm happy. I don't know why you all can hold me, but it means so much to me to have you all here."
"Sensei, why did you leave us?" asked one of the boys who was hugging her from the back.
"Yeah, we were all so scared when you left!" said another boy.
"I don't know, Yuu-chan, Kazu-chan," Mamori slowly wiped her tears away. "I'm hoping I'll find out what really happened."
"Sensei! I know you'll come back to us! We're waiting for you!" cried one of the girls.
"Thank you, Tama-chan," Mamori smiled at them happily. "I'll do my best to come back."
"Sensei!"
Mamori turned to see one boy who didn't come to hug her but stood near the gates of the kindergarten. He smiled at her confidently with his messy brown hair and brown eyes. "You'll definitely come back, Anezaki-sensei. You've come this far and we all believe in you! But right now your most important person needs you. And also... you need to save one more person."
"One more?" Mamori looked at him curiously. "What do you mean, Tsu-chan?"
The boy pointed straight at Mamori at first, then he turned and pointed inside the kindergarten and the scenery returned into its gray state. The children had disappeared and it was merely drizzling at that moment.
Her tears had finally stopped, and Mamori instinctively placed a palm on her chest, as she felt something strange stirring within her. But all she needed was to hear another gunshot before she grabbed her sword and quickly ran into the kindergarten.
Hiruma slammed into the blackboard, leaving a trail of blood on it as he slid down to his knees. Deep laughter echoed through the room as the Mamori look-alike sauntered forward, brandishing her now bloodied sword.
"I don't know why you're fighting me in this state," she said, as she cocked her head with a grin. "You're obviously running out of time in this world and it looks like you're close to leaving it too, and though you've shot me many times and have stopped me occasionally, you've yet to slow me down or destroy me in any way. I'm pretty sure you don't have the power to really kill me either. So why are you still trying?"
Hiruma looked at her and saw black holes riddled her body, though they did nothing to slow her down. Although Hiruma had found at least one temporary weakness in his attempt to figure her out, it had come at a high price as his body had begun to weaken. She had managed to slash at his limbs as his guns proved little defense when she succeeded in coming up close, and the wounds inflicted on him had restricted his movements even more.
There was only one thing left to do.
"I fucking told you," said Hiruma, his breathing slow though heavy. "I wanted answers."
"Here's an answer for you," said the girl as she bent, inching her face closer to Hiruma’s. "Stop fighting all this. You know it would be much easier to succumb to the darkness and forget everything. You won't feel all this pain anymore when you're there, you won't feel a thing. You'd be safe, all the fears you've been experiencing for so long after the incident will be gone. So come..."
Her voice lulled Hiruma temporarily as he looked into her eyes. They were Mamori's eyes, and for a moment he could see the real Mamori in them, all her fears embodied within. The fake Mamori reached her hand out slowly to touch Hiruma's face, and he raised his arm to hold her...
BANG!
Using his other hand, Hiruma grabbed his gun and had shot her straight in the heart. She screamed, and like the many times he had shot her before, showed her true self in the form of a shadow, dark and beast-like before regaining her form. Her eyes flashed red in anger as she positioned her sword and rushed towards Hiruma, but he quickly evaded it with as much strength as he could muster and continued to shoot at her. With a few more shots, he watched as she finally burst into a weaker shadow form and rushed into the shadows.
Hiruma wasn’t surprised as this had happened earlier, and Hiruma knew she was just regaining herself before attacking once more. At least he had this temporary break to pull himself together, but the more blood he lost, the harder it was to focus. This is where things get dangerous... Hiruma knew he had just one last chance.
"Why're you after her?" he finally asked, looking around the classroom where the shadows were. His blood was dripping on the floor... time was running up too quickly. "There was no sign of her ever becoming like this... where you could claim her."
"That's because you don't know her," a voice whispered in the air. "She hid it from you. She didn't want you to know how broken up she really was, how she felt like she was losing all hope and that nothing could save her."
"You're lying!" Hiruma cried out as he held his guns out, knowing she would appear soon. "She was fine, she knew everything would be all right! You did something to her, I know it!"
"Oh, it wasn't me..." the voice replied, though it sounded stronger now. "I didn't have to do anything. She already had all those feelings within her that all it took was someone whom I’ve already claimed as my own to have some link with her, and she was mine. That someone did this to her... and that's who I'm really after. Once I get her, the one that you love will be mine. So you might as well join her."
"What?" Hiruma dropped his guard as the meaning of what she’d just said hit him. "No... you don't mean that-!"
He heard her coming from behind a second too late, and he knew he couldn't dodge her. Still, he tried to sidestep away but felt her sword glance his side. He grimaced and tried to shoot her, but she easily stayed clear of his aim, rushing in at him while moving quickly from side to side, slashing his clothes and leaving long thin lines of blood across his skin. Hiruma knocked her sword away from himself with one of his guns, but in his exhaustion caught one of his hands on the blade, leaving a gash across the back of his hand.
It was an opportunity she pounced upon, knocking the gun out of his left hand. And Hiruma instinctively tightened his grip on the gun in his right hand, his knuckles whitening. She was pushing him into a corner with each stab towards him.
Come on, just a little bit closer...
As the Fake Mamori took a step back and looked down the point of her sword at him, Hiruma saw an opening to shoot her right in the head and quickly raised his gun to aim.
"HIRUMA!"
The familiarity of a voice he’d learnt to trust, and to love, over the years broke through his already weakening focus and without thinking; Hiruma averted his eyes to the door of the classroom...
And felt a hot piercing pain stab through his body.
He didn't have time to think. He saw Mamori standing at the door, her face frozen in a silent scream at the sight before her. He glanced at the fake Mamori, who wore a maniacal grin at her success. This was it. He had run out of time.
"Last chance," the fake Mamori whispered. "Come to me."
Hiruma wanted to laugh, but the blood building up in his throat made it hard to do so. He mustered the last of his strength to say "Fuck off," blood dribbling down his chin as he raised his gun quickly and shot her face multiple times.
She screamed once more and disappeared into the shadows. The sword disappeared along with her, leaving his gaping wound to bleed profusely.
"No..." Mamori was shaking all over as she watched Hiruma fall. "NOOO!!"
She ran to him, and reached out to hold his back before he fell to the ground. "HIRUMA!" she screamed, as she fell with him and let him rest on her lap. His body felt lifeless, and she panicked when she noticed he wasn't moving. "Hiruma, no! This can't be happening! Why are you bleeding so much? Oh no..." She placed a hand on the gaping wound, panicking as more blood gushed out. Her eyes strayed at the rest of the wounds he had, and she choked on her sobs as she couldn’t understand how this could have happened. "Y-you're just something my mind created, so why are you bleeding? I've never... not since I came here... I've never seen so much..."
"I lied..."
Mamori raised her panicked eyes from his wound to look at his face, now pale and sunken. "Hiru... ma?"
He used the last of his strength to open his eyes to look at her once more. She was terrified, and she couldn't stop shaking. He wanted so badly to touch her once more, to hold her and tell her so many things. But he could feel himself being pulled away. "I lied," he repeated. "I'm one of those waiting for you too."
"W-what are you saying?" Mamori felt her tears spilling again. She held him tighter to her, unwilling to let him go as she felt him barely breathing. "Hiruma, don't leave me! I still need you here! I'm scared!"
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he lost even the effort to keep his eyes open. He closed his eyes and slowly allowed himself to sink into the darkness, thinking and worrying for a moment of what Mamori was about to face. Yet he used the last of his breath to utter, "But I know you'll get through this. I believe in you... So damn it... come back to me...
Mamori."
And right before her eyes, Hiruma disappeared.
The blood, and even the bloodstains on her clothes and on the floor, everything disappeared. All that was left was Mamori, sitting on the cold floor, shocked, confused and unable to feel anything other than an emptiness that rang through her. Her eyes wandered over everything in her surroundings desperately looking for something her mind could grasp on to, wondering what was going on, who the other Mamori was and why did she hurt Hiruma...
Then she spotted the velveteen box where Hiruma had just laid.
She reached out a hand, at first to touch and then, instinctively, her fingers closed around it. And the scenery around her changed instantly. She was in a room she didn't recognise at first, but slowly memories that were repressed emerged. She had been here before! She tried to figure out who was her important person here with Cerberus until...
She heard a shuffling in the bed and Mamori stood up and turned to see two people were lying in it. One person was awake, and the other was still in a deep sleep. She recognized the person who was awake, looking older and gruffer than she had ever seen him. "Hiruma..." she found herself whispering.
The other person who was sleeping grumbled for a moment before peeking her familiar head out of the comforter. Then Mamori saw her shriek as she got up. "Oh no, I'm late!"
Hiruma quickly grabbed the long haired, older Mamori and pulled her back into the bed. "Relax, it's a Sunday."
"But breakfast...!" Older Mamori struggled. Hiruma merely hugged her and held her close.
"We'll just go out later, I'll pay," he said as Mamori squirmed in his arms. "Besides, I'm not done with last night," he grinned.
"Urgh, it's your fault I woke up this late!" Mamori playfully punched his chest, but Hiruma merely cackled in reply. "Really... I know it's rare for the both of us to have a day off at the same time, but wasn't that a bit overboard?"
"Are you fucking kidding me? I think this is the perfect way to spend our free time together," he grinned.
Mamori watched as her older self pouted in disapproval, then she giggled and kissed Hiruma lightly on the lips. "Fine," she said. "I'll let you have it your way just for today. The next time we're free, you'll have to do what I say."
"And how will you make me spend that day, making cupcakes?"
"Really now, I am not that mean! I'll just be making creampuffs of course!"
"Damn it, woman," Hiruma drew his face closer to hers seductively. "I am NOT looking forward to that day of yours. So I better make this day worth my while."
"Don't start, you'll tire me out..." Older Mamori pulled away from his embrace and moved her head across the pillow when Mamori noticed her older self looked shocked and confused. Then watched as she reached a hand under the pillow...
And pulled out a velveteen box.
"Eh?" Older Mamori inspected the box. "What is this?"
"You know what it is," said Hiruma, wearing a different sort of grin on his face. A more gentle, happy expression the real Mamori found fascinating. "It's something I've been promising you for a long while. Took too fucking long, I admit. But don't start bitching about the quality and shit. I know you're not the type, but I have no idea how you'll be like at the idea of this and whether you do care about the quality..."
Older Mamori had turned her back on Hiruma, still holding on to the velveteen box as Hiruma spoke. She had continued to keep her back to him while he spoke so that Hiruma soon began to get nervous and scooted closer to her to see what she was doing...
To find that she was already wearing the ring. And she had the biggest smile real Mamori had ever seen. Content, Hiruma lied down, wrapping his arms around her waist and buried his face in her hair, both of them not saying a word as they sank into the moment. "So..." Hiruma finally said.
"So..." Older Mamori replied, still smiling brightly as she held her left hand out to look at the ring.
"I see you really like that."
"I like it... because of what it means."
"And do you know that meaning?"
Older Mamori closed her eyes and pulled her left hand to her chest. She placed her right palm on Hiruma's hand that held her waist gently and whispered, "Yes..."
Mamori felt a pain stab through her at that moment as she watched the scenery began to blur.
"We'll always be..."
"No," Mamori whispered, shaking her head as fresh tears poured down her face. "No..."
"Together."
Mamori fell to her knees as the scenery changed back to the classroom and the velveteen box lay on the floor in front of her as before. Mamori continued to shake, feeling as if her own heart was being stabbed over and over again. Hiruma was... Hiruma was...
With trembling hands, Mamori opened the velveteen box and found the ring with a simple studded diamond in it. She shivered as she pulled the ring out of the box and then placed it on her left ring finger. And instantly memories of Hiruma filled her mind. The player on the football field. The person at the party. In the pictures. It was all him. And then memories of Hiruma in this world, continuously supporting her, injuring himself in the process to save her, worrying over her to make sure she would return...
A rush of emotion swept through her. It was impossible to contain.
"You.. ichi..." her voice shook as she whispered his name.
And then she broke into a cold, terrifying scream as she felt the world around her begin to break.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
~*~
Extra Notes: .... I think I'm going to get killed. I'm going to get killed, aren't I?! *hides* It's all right! Everything will be all right! Everything is going to get explained in the next chapter, I promise! Everything will finally be revealed in the next one, in which if all goes well, will be pretty long. Eh? Release it NOW? I haven't.. but I still have... *gets shot* OKAY! OKAY! I'll release the next chapter for this one as soon as possible! Thank you all for your continued support and do be patient with me! If all goes well, this will be up sooner rather than in a month's time. I'm totally excited to write what happens next. Are you excited to read it? :)
Chapter 12 | Chapter 14