[sailor fuku; the dying day part ii]
The Dying Day, part ii
Sailor Fuku to Kikajuu Izumi/Sakume centric
summary [AU leading from episode 6 onwards; an explanation] Izumi is haunted by her kidnapping and all those deaths.
Part One.
Background music/Inspiration Amelie 'La Valse D'Amelie Amelie 'Comptine...' Good Bye Lenin 'Childhood 2' Good Bye Lenin 'Father and Mother'
She doesn't know how to move on from this. She doesn't know how to move past this and it stabs her in the heart like this. But what do I do now, she asks herself, what do I do now? She stares at the photograph, her heart bubbling and beating inside of her; she feels ashamed. "I'm sorry," she whispers to them. "It was all my fault..."
And then she remembers Hideki pressing against her, shielding her, and his blooding dripping into her own. "It should have been me," she cries out, startled.
***
"Izumi-san, what are you doing?" Mayumi whispers to her as Izumi begins to put more plates down onto the dining table than necessary.
She stares at the five other places she's set up and frowns. "Oh, right," she says, disappointed. Robotically she begins to pick them up.
"Are you okay?" Mayumi asks and Izumi nods, "Of course I am."
***
"Takashi-san knows how to fix this," Izumi explains as she stares intently at the computer screen and Mayumi stares at her. "What?" Izumi looks at her and repeats her repeats the words, stating them as simple facts, not expressions of longing. Mayumi looks at her with concern, "Izumi-san," she says in a strangely stern voice and Izumi glances at her with a long face.
***
"Hideki-san, I am not going to watch that with you..."
Mayumi presses her ear against the door, listening intently to the strange conversation emanating from the room. She swallows hard and quickly steps into the room, "Izumi-san, what are you doing?" she asks cheerily.
"I'm watching yakuza movies," she says simply but something causes Mayumi to frown.
"Izumi-san, are you okay?"
"Yes, of course," Izumi says but Mayumi still doesn't believe her.
***
"I'm going to invite Sakma-san for the weekend, is that okay?" Mayumi asks her she holds a cup of water in her hands but Izumi shakes her head.
"No thank you," she mutters into her rice.
"What? I thought you'd be pleased ot see him," Mayumi asks in shock. Izumi stares hard into her rice and stabs it with her chopsticls. "No thank you..." another hard jab into the rice and she's no longer hungry. "I'm sorry, I'm not hungry," she gets up and stomps to her room.
"Wait! You've not eaten anything since morning!" Mayumi calls out but she stops as she hears the upstairs door shut.
***
In the middle of the night Mayumi gets up to get a glass of water. She passes Izumi's room and is surprised to see the light still on. Knocking lightly, she enters the room and finds Izumi staring out of the window, the photograph in her hands.
"Izumi-san, what's the matter?"
Izumi turns to look at her and shakes her head. "I couldn't sleep."
"Nightmares?" Mayumi asks knowingly and Izumi can't answer her or look her in the eye.
"Come," Mayumi takes Izumi's arm and pulls her to her feet. "We'll have hot chocolate and have a sleepover."
After cups of hot chocolate and biscuits, Mayumi is filled with dread as she tucks Izumi in her own bed. She climbs in beside her and wishes her goodnight as she pulls the lamp out. "Mayumi-san?" Izumi says slowly. "Hm?"
"I'm sorry about your father," she whispers.
Mayumi turns to look at Izumi who lies with her back facing her. "Thank you," she whispers. She slides back into bed and deep into the night she awakens and looks at Izumi again, knowing full well she's not sleeping.
***
"Izumi-san, why don't you want to go to school" Mayumi asks, leaning against the door for support. Izumi shrugs and looks back out of the window. "Izumi-san," Mayumi says slowly and walks to her bed and sits beside her.
"I don't need to go to school," Izumi whispers. "Kenji-san didn't and he's okay," she says simply and Mayumi stares at her. He's dead, she thinks but she can't bring herself to say it so she hugs Izumi tightly instead.
***
He picks up on the fourth ring and Mayumi sighs a breath of relief. "Hello, Sakuma speaking."
"Sakuma-san, it's Mayumi calling," she says in an unsure voice and he greets her warmly. "Is anything the matter?" he asks and it's a silent question about Izumi.
And as she explains it all to him, his voice gradually becomes deeper and deeper, somehow lost in a cloud of thought. He's silent for a moment before he tells her in a throaty voice, "I'm coming," and it almost sounds like anger.
***
He hesitates when he sees Mayumi's call. He doesn't know whether to pick it up but soon he does. "Hello, Sakuma speaking," he says, feigning coolness, something does an awful lot he thinks.
"Sakuma-san, it's Mayumi calling."
"Oh good morning Mayumi, how are you?"
"I'm very well thank you."
"Is anything the matter?" he says, wondering how else to ask about Izumi.
"Sakuma-san... I'm very worried about Izumi-san," his hand tightens around the phone. "She's been acting very strangely. She... she hasn't been eating or sleeping well, and she doesn't want to go to school."
He swallows hard. "Has she said anything about them?"
"She acts as if they're all alive. She spend hours talking to them, or cooking their dishes. He clenches his jaw. "At first I thought it was her grieving but I think something's wrong. She acts as if nothing has happened. I asked her to ask you to visit and she firmly said no."
"What?"
"I'm sorry Sakuma-san but I don't know why. I'm scared Sakuma-san. It's as if she doesn't want any outside help; she just wants to remain as she is."
And as she explains he can feel a stone on his heart. I thought you'd be better without me, Oujo-san he says to himself. I thought without me you'd...
"I'm coming," he says and his voice is hot and almost like anger, "I'm coming.
***
After Mayumi leaves for inner-Tokyo, she suddenly finds herself exhausted. It's as if everything has seeped into her and gnawed into her bones and she tries to shake it away but to no avail. Slowly she steps into the living room, trying to go to the kitchen to have a glass of water but her legs stop.
There's a strange dizziness and everything is moving away from her. She lets out a pained gasp as she crashes to the ground.
She sleeps for hours, for almost a full day, and in her dreams she remembers it over and over again...
She opens her eyes and there's blood everywhere. It seeps through her clothes and through her skin and she can feel it settle in her bones. The man weighs heavy on her and the smell of blood hangs in the air.
"Get out of here Boss!" Kenji yells but it takes so long for the sound to reach her over the gunfire. The man lifts his head up and nods and looks beneath at her. "You okay there Boss?" he asks with a strained voice and a forced smile.
"Sakuma-san..." she whispers hoarsely. There's a shadow behind him and he glances back to see someone standing there. "Get off her," he yells gruffly and begins to kick him. Sakuma holds her tightly in his arms as the man kicks him repeatedly in the back and chest. She tries to cry out, to ask him to stop but nothing escapes her lips.
Hideki rushes the man and pulls him away, punching him repeatedly in the face and knocking him unconscious. He pulls Sakuma and her to their feet. "Come on! We have to get you out of here!" Hideki grabs her hand and they begin to run through the warehouse. Sakuma follows closely after them but is pulled away by two men. "Go!" he yells. A man rushes to stab him and Sakuma manages to overpower him. "GO!" he yells again and Hideki can only pull her along.
They're almost at the doors when a cry causes her to freeze. She turns slowly and sees the tanto pull out of Kenji. "Kenji!" Hideki yells and steps forwards to help him. Kenji turns to look at them and she's dumbstruck as he shakes his head and falls to the ground. "Get out of here," he calls out hoarsely. "Kenji-sa..."
A man runs towards her but she doesn't realise that he's aiming a gun at her until Hideki grabs her and holds her tightly. His arms wrap around her ears and the sound of the bullets and his gasps of pain are muffled. They stumble backwards and she trips and he follows, holding her even tighter. "A-are you... okay?" he manages to push out and she stares at him.
"Hideki-san..." she says in less than a whisper. "I'm... sorry Boss. I'm really sorry," he breathes and tears are streaming down his face. They drop down onto her face and she tries to speak but the sound of fresh bullets causes him to drop against her, shielding her again. His fingers hold her tight and she can't breathe.
And then he slackens. He drops entirely onto her and she thinks that the weight in her heart is heavier still. It feels like forever here. His blood and tears are her own here and it feels like forever.
Slowly he's pulled away from her. His body is gently put beside her and she stares at him, his bloodied face, his closed eyes and parted lips. "Boss..." Sakuma whispers but she doesn't hear. She can't stop staring at him. She can't stop staring at him even when Sakuma is pulled away from her, even when a man pulls her up to her feet by grabbing onto her collars. She can't stop staring even when another smacks her hard on the face and spits in her face. And she can't stop even when he pulls out a tanto.
She expects to die here. She expects to be killed and leave them all and wake up and realize it's only a dream. That she never knew these men, never loved or lost them.
And when she looks back at the man, at his gleaming knife she doesn't know what else to do but to look for Kenji, to look for Hideki, for Takeshi and Kinzo.
She expects to die.
But Sakuma is somehow here again and she hears him grunt as the tanto cuts into him. She falls to the floor as the man behind her lets go and everything is unclear as Sakuma fights.
She expects to die here... suddenly it's strange and the men disperse and Sakuma is here, talking to her, pulling her face close to his but nothing makes sense. All she can see is the blood dripping down his face. All she can see is Hideki and Kenji and Takashi and Kinzo's blood.
"Boss," he whispers. "Boss..." He taps her face lightly and her eyes blur. She pulls away from him not realizing who he is and she recoils until he says her name and steps towards her slowly. A wave of nausea fills her stomach and she vomits violently, silently on the floor. When there's nothing she feels him grab her by the arms and pull her to feet. He hugs her tight and she falls slack against him.
***
She awakens with a gasp and looks about the room. She almost doesn't recognize it but soon her memory returns and sits up, breathing heavily. The memories leave a strange taste in her mouth and runs to the bathroom and vomits in the toilet.
She pulls back and sits against the bathtun, taking in great chunks of air. She's forgotten how to breathe she thinks. With shaking legs she stands up and washes her face with cold water.
"It was just a dream..." she says monotonously, ignoring the voice inside her saying no it wasn't Izumi, no it wasn't...
***
When he arrives he finds her making rice. She dishes it out for seven place settings and he realises what's happening. "There you are Takeshi-san," she says as she places it beside the water cup. She stands up with a smile and freezes when she sees him standing there. "Sakuma-san?" she says and she clutches the tray tightly in her hands.
He stares at her with an expression on his face that she can't understand. It's almost like anger she thinks. "Would you like to join us for dinner?"
His face twitches and he snaps. He turns to the table and turns it over, the plates crashing to the floor. "Sakuma-san!" she screams and tries to salvage the food. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he roars as she tries to pick up a bowl of rice.
"What are you doing?!" she cries out as he takes the bowls of rice and empties them out into the bin. She tries to stop him, trying to grab his arms but he pushes her out of the way and grabs another. "Sakuma-san! Stop it! What are you doing!?" He drops the plate onto the floor and as she tries to run to pick it up, he grabs her by the arm and pulls her out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"What's wrong with you Sakuma-san?!" she asks exasperated. She tries to go back to the kitchen but he pulls her back. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I was making dinner!!"
"For dead people?!" he yells into her face and she blanks.
He holds onto her shoulders and shakes her. "They're dead!" he yells. "They're all dead! They're not going to come back!"
She tries to pry away from him but he shakes her harder. "You waiting for them isn't going to bring them back!"
"Yes it will!" she screams. "If I don't pretend I'll be all alone!"
He stares at her in disbelief. "What?"
"They all died! They all left me. You all left me alone! Mother, Father, Kinzo-san, Takashi-san, Hideki-san, Kenji-san, Sakuma-san! You all left me!" He lets go of her, his hands drop to his sides and he looks at her with wides eyes as tears stream down her face.
"I'm all alone!!" she cries out and she drops to her knees and begins to sob bitterly. "You all died!" she gasps out in between her sobs. Her cries echo through the house and eventually he kneels in front of her and reaches out to console her. "Even you Sakuma-san..." she says bitterly and his hand stops, "I thought you died too and I wanted to go with you all. And then you didn't and you brought me here and left me alone..." She begins to rock her body back and forth, sobbing in her chest. "Why didn't you take me too? You all died for me and you left me all alone..." The sobs become louder and heavier and she cries out heavily, "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..."
Sakuma swallows and slowly reaches out to her. He leans forwards and holds her tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Oujo-san. You're not alone, you were never alone," he whispers into her shoulder as she cries against him. A moaning sound escapes her and she hiccups in her tears. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
***
When she opens her eyes she's in her school uniform and is in the countryside. For miles around there are green hills and valleys and in the distant she almost thinks she can see the house. "Sakuma-san?!" she calls out but there's no one around. "Where am I?" she wonders and she turns around and stares out in shock as she sees them walk towards her. "Kinzo-san, Takeshi-san. Hideki-san, Kenji-san..."
"Yo!" Hideki shouts out and she's frozen.
"You..." The four beam at her as they stop and stand before her, dressed in their yakuza uniform. "Boss!" Kenji calls out and she's bewildered.
"You're all... here," she says in a shaky voice.
"Of course we're here Boss, do you think we're leave you here alone?" Kinzo says kindly as he shakes his fan. Written on the beige fan is Medaka Clan #1! and she blinks as she tries to focus.
"But where am I? And why are you all here?"
"Boss," Takeshi speaks up, "we've come to ask you let us go."
"What?"
"You're keeping us with you and we can't move on as we should," Kinzo says calmly.
"But I don't want you guys to leave me," she says softly and Hideki shakes his head.
"We died, Boss. We have to go to our rightful place."
"No, you can't be dead," she shakes her head as tears begin to run down her face. "You can't leave me!"
"Idiot we aren't leaving you. We just have to go on," he says gruffly and she swallows.
"Boss, please," Kenji says in a sweet and pleading voice. "We fought with honour; please let us go with honour too."
She wipes the tears from her face but more run down, this time faster and more painful. "But I'll be alone..."
"Do you think we'd leave you alone Boss," Takeshi says with a sympathetic smile. "You have Sakuma-san and Mayumi-san."
"What if I forget you?"
"You had better not or I'll come back and kick your ass!" Hideki yelled and Kino smacked him on the back of the head with a fan. A small laugh escapes her lips and she sighs.
"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for you guys to..."
Kinzo shook his head. "It was in our destiny, Boss. We did what we had to do and so should you."
"We want you to have a beautiful, long life, away from yakuza. We want you to live for us," Takeshi explains and she cries out that she understand in between her gasping tears.
"It's been an honour serving you Boss," Kenji says with a smile and the four bowed deeply to her. "You were the best leader we ever had," Takeshi called out. "Thank you for looking after us," Kinzo says. "You were pretty cool afterall," Hideki says as he straightens up.
She swallows hard and takes a deep breath. "It was an honour being with you. I'll never forget you. And I'm really sorry I couldn't come with you!" she says and her sobs weigh her down.
"Oh you idiot, we never wanted you to," Hideki says with a sad smile.
"Thank you very much, I love you all," she says and she bows deeply and solemnly to them. When she straightens there is only Hideki standing.
"Look after yourself Boss," he says.
"Hide-san..."
"Sakuma-san is waiting for you. Look after him too." He lingers for a second before he fades away with a small smile.
She turns around, her hands in her mouth and cries to herself. A warm hand is on her shoulder and she looks at it. "Oujo-san," the man whisers and she turns to see Sakuma looking down at her with concern.
"Sakuma-san," she says in her tears.
"Shall we go home?" he says and when she opens her eyes he's holding her tightly in his arms.
"Oujo-san, are you okay?"
She beams at him through her tears and nods. The breath that had been caught within her releases with his smile and she sighs. "Thank you," she whispers. "I can let them go now."
He smiles at her and hugs her tightly, gently stroking the back of her hair.
***
Izumi stands and smiles brightly as they look on the now clean living room. It had taken an hour and a half but they managed to clear up Sakuma's handiwork.
"Oujo-san," he says timidly. "I'm sorry if I was rough on you," his head is bent low and she shakes her head.
"It's fine Sakuma-san." She rolls her sleaves down and asks if he's going to stay the weekend.
"Yes, if that's okay with you, Oujo-san."
Izumi rolls her eyes. "It's Izumi."
Sakuma blinks at her, "Eh?"
"Call me 'Izumi' Sakuma-san. I don't want to be 'Oujo-san' any more."
He thinks about it for a moment, and opens his mouth to speak but closes it again. "How about 'Madam'?" he offers and she throws a cushion at him.
It bounces off his head and he laughs.
***
The air is clear as she steps back in Asakusa. It's a bright sunny day and she slowly walks down the street in her school uniform.
She stops outside the headquarters and smiles. There's no board outside, no indication of it ever being a yakuza den. Slowly she steps inside, taking in all the memories.
Sakuma looks over as the door opens and he smiles as she steps inside. "Izumi-chan, welcome home."
Izumi beams at him and shuts the door. "I'm home." She glances at the pictures of her family and smiles. "I'm home," she whispers with a smile.
Zomg. That was exhausting. It took me two days but it's done. I've not written anything this intensely since I had my exams in January and I churned out a still incomplete 'Boys Before Flowers' fic...
But I'm so glad I did it; I needed closure over it lol. I was rewatching the first few eps and Sakuma's manhandling of Izumi in ep 6 throughout, and guh, he's hot. *___* Also the pillow scene was for gogomoksori lol. ;)
I know there are a few crack elements but I did it because it would work. The guys coming back might seem weird but I thought it'd work in terms of the show. And I had to keep Mayumi, since she was the only thing keep Izumi from completely losing it, but I didn't want to go through her demons too because it's too draining lol. I put in Hideki in more because I thought he actually did start to like her. Bless him.
But oh. It's done. :D Oh Sakuma-san. ♥
Sailor Fuku to Kikajuu Izumi/Sakume centric
summary [AU leading from episode 6 onwards; an explanation] Izumi is haunted by her kidnapping and all those deaths.
Part One.
Background music/Inspiration Amelie 'La Valse D'Amelie Amelie 'Comptine...' Good Bye Lenin 'Childhood 2' Good Bye Lenin 'Father and Mother'
She doesn't know how to move on from this. She doesn't know how to move past this and it stabs her in the heart like this. But what do I do now, she asks herself, what do I do now? She stares at the photograph, her heart bubbling and beating inside of her; she feels ashamed. "I'm sorry," she whispers to them. "It was all my fault..."
And then she remembers Hideki pressing against her, shielding her, and his blooding dripping into her own. "It should have been me," she cries out, startled.
***
"Izumi-san, what are you doing?" Mayumi whispers to her as Izumi begins to put more plates down onto the dining table than necessary.
She stares at the five other places she's set up and frowns. "Oh, right," she says, disappointed. Robotically she begins to pick them up.
"Are you okay?" Mayumi asks and Izumi nods, "Of course I am."
***
"Takashi-san knows how to fix this," Izumi explains as she stares intently at the computer screen and Mayumi stares at her. "What?" Izumi looks at her and repeats her repeats the words, stating them as simple facts, not expressions of longing. Mayumi looks at her with concern, "Izumi-san," she says in a strangely stern voice and Izumi glances at her with a long face.
***
"Hideki-san, I am not going to watch that with you..."
Mayumi presses her ear against the door, listening intently to the strange conversation emanating from the room. She swallows hard and quickly steps into the room, "Izumi-san, what are you doing?" she asks cheerily.
"I'm watching yakuza movies," she says simply but something causes Mayumi to frown.
"Izumi-san, are you okay?"
"Yes, of course," Izumi says but Mayumi still doesn't believe her.
***
"I'm going to invite Sakma-san for the weekend, is that okay?" Mayumi asks her she holds a cup of water in her hands but Izumi shakes her head.
"No thank you," she mutters into her rice.
"What? I thought you'd be pleased ot see him," Mayumi asks in shock. Izumi stares hard into her rice and stabs it with her chopsticls. "No thank you..." another hard jab into the rice and she's no longer hungry. "I'm sorry, I'm not hungry," she gets up and stomps to her room.
"Wait! You've not eaten anything since morning!" Mayumi calls out but she stops as she hears the upstairs door shut.
***
In the middle of the night Mayumi gets up to get a glass of water. She passes Izumi's room and is surprised to see the light still on. Knocking lightly, she enters the room and finds Izumi staring out of the window, the photograph in her hands.
"Izumi-san, what's the matter?"
Izumi turns to look at her and shakes her head. "I couldn't sleep."
"Nightmares?" Mayumi asks knowingly and Izumi can't answer her or look her in the eye.
"Come," Mayumi takes Izumi's arm and pulls her to her feet. "We'll have hot chocolate and have a sleepover."
After cups of hot chocolate and biscuits, Mayumi is filled with dread as she tucks Izumi in her own bed. She climbs in beside her and wishes her goodnight as she pulls the lamp out. "Mayumi-san?" Izumi says slowly. "Hm?"
"I'm sorry about your father," she whispers.
Mayumi turns to look at Izumi who lies with her back facing her. "Thank you," she whispers. She slides back into bed and deep into the night she awakens and looks at Izumi again, knowing full well she's not sleeping.
***
"Izumi-san, why don't you want to go to school" Mayumi asks, leaning against the door for support. Izumi shrugs and looks back out of the window. "Izumi-san," Mayumi says slowly and walks to her bed and sits beside her.
"I don't need to go to school," Izumi whispers. "Kenji-san didn't and he's okay," she says simply and Mayumi stares at her. He's dead, she thinks but she can't bring herself to say it so she hugs Izumi tightly instead.
***
He picks up on the fourth ring and Mayumi sighs a breath of relief. "Hello, Sakuma speaking."
"Sakuma-san, it's Mayumi calling," she says in an unsure voice and he greets her warmly. "Is anything the matter?" he asks and it's a silent question about Izumi.
And as she explains it all to him, his voice gradually becomes deeper and deeper, somehow lost in a cloud of thought. He's silent for a moment before he tells her in a throaty voice, "I'm coming," and it almost sounds like anger.
***
He hesitates when he sees Mayumi's call. He doesn't know whether to pick it up but soon he does. "Hello, Sakuma speaking," he says, feigning coolness, something does an awful lot he thinks.
"Sakuma-san, it's Mayumi calling."
"Oh good morning Mayumi, how are you?"
"I'm very well thank you."
"Is anything the matter?" he says, wondering how else to ask about Izumi.
"Sakuma-san... I'm very worried about Izumi-san," his hand tightens around the phone. "She's been acting very strangely. She... she hasn't been eating or sleeping well, and she doesn't want to go to school."
He swallows hard. "Has she said anything about them?"
"She acts as if they're all alive. She spend hours talking to them, or cooking their dishes. He clenches his jaw. "At first I thought it was her grieving but I think something's wrong. She acts as if nothing has happened. I asked her to ask you to visit and she firmly said no."
"What?"
"I'm sorry Sakuma-san but I don't know why. I'm scared Sakuma-san. It's as if she doesn't want any outside help; she just wants to remain as she is."
And as she explains he can feel a stone on his heart. I thought you'd be better without me, Oujo-san he says to himself. I thought without me you'd...
"I'm coming," he says and his voice is hot and almost like anger, "I'm coming.
***
After Mayumi leaves for inner-Tokyo, she suddenly finds herself exhausted. It's as if everything has seeped into her and gnawed into her bones and she tries to shake it away but to no avail. Slowly she steps into the living room, trying to go to the kitchen to have a glass of water but her legs stop.
There's a strange dizziness and everything is moving away from her. She lets out a pained gasp as she crashes to the ground.
She sleeps for hours, for almost a full day, and in her dreams she remembers it over and over again...
She opens her eyes and there's blood everywhere. It seeps through her clothes and through her skin and she can feel it settle in her bones. The man weighs heavy on her and the smell of blood hangs in the air.
"Get out of here Boss!" Kenji yells but it takes so long for the sound to reach her over the gunfire. The man lifts his head up and nods and looks beneath at her. "You okay there Boss?" he asks with a strained voice and a forced smile.
"Sakuma-san..." she whispers hoarsely. There's a shadow behind him and he glances back to see someone standing there. "Get off her," he yells gruffly and begins to kick him. Sakuma holds her tightly in his arms as the man kicks him repeatedly in the back and chest. She tries to cry out, to ask him to stop but nothing escapes her lips.
Hideki rushes the man and pulls him away, punching him repeatedly in the face and knocking him unconscious. He pulls Sakuma and her to their feet. "Come on! We have to get you out of here!" Hideki grabs her hand and they begin to run through the warehouse. Sakuma follows closely after them but is pulled away by two men. "Go!" he yells. A man rushes to stab him and Sakuma manages to overpower him. "GO!" he yells again and Hideki can only pull her along.
They're almost at the doors when a cry causes her to freeze. She turns slowly and sees the tanto pull out of Kenji. "Kenji!" Hideki yells and steps forwards to help him. Kenji turns to look at them and she's dumbstruck as he shakes his head and falls to the ground. "Get out of here," he calls out hoarsely. "Kenji-sa..."
A man runs towards her but she doesn't realise that he's aiming a gun at her until Hideki grabs her and holds her tightly. His arms wrap around her ears and the sound of the bullets and his gasps of pain are muffled. They stumble backwards and she trips and he follows, holding her even tighter. "A-are you... okay?" he manages to push out and she stares at him.
"Hideki-san..." she says in less than a whisper. "I'm... sorry Boss. I'm really sorry," he breathes and tears are streaming down his face. They drop down onto her face and she tries to speak but the sound of fresh bullets causes him to drop against her, shielding her again. His fingers hold her tight and she can't breathe.
And then he slackens. He drops entirely onto her and she thinks that the weight in her heart is heavier still. It feels like forever here. His blood and tears are her own here and it feels like forever.
Slowly he's pulled away from her. His body is gently put beside her and she stares at him, his bloodied face, his closed eyes and parted lips. "Boss..." Sakuma whispers but she doesn't hear. She can't stop staring at him. She can't stop staring at him even when Sakuma is pulled away from her, even when a man pulls her up to her feet by grabbing onto her collars. She can't stop staring even when another smacks her hard on the face and spits in her face. And she can't stop even when he pulls out a tanto.
She expects to die here. She expects to be killed and leave them all and wake up and realize it's only a dream. That she never knew these men, never loved or lost them.
And when she looks back at the man, at his gleaming knife she doesn't know what else to do but to look for Kenji, to look for Hideki, for Takeshi and Kinzo.
She expects to die.
But Sakuma is somehow here again and she hears him grunt as the tanto cuts into him. She falls to the floor as the man behind her lets go and everything is unclear as Sakuma fights.
She expects to die here... suddenly it's strange and the men disperse and Sakuma is here, talking to her, pulling her face close to his but nothing makes sense. All she can see is the blood dripping down his face. All she can see is Hideki and Kenji and Takashi and Kinzo's blood.
"Boss," he whispers. "Boss..." He taps her face lightly and her eyes blur. She pulls away from him not realizing who he is and she recoils until he says her name and steps towards her slowly. A wave of nausea fills her stomach and she vomits violently, silently on the floor. When there's nothing she feels him grab her by the arms and pull her to feet. He hugs her tight and she falls slack against him.
***
She awakens with a gasp and looks about the room. She almost doesn't recognize it but soon her memory returns and sits up, breathing heavily. The memories leave a strange taste in her mouth and runs to the bathroom and vomits in the toilet.
She pulls back and sits against the bathtun, taking in great chunks of air. She's forgotten how to breathe she thinks. With shaking legs she stands up and washes her face with cold water.
"It was just a dream..." she says monotonously, ignoring the voice inside her saying no it wasn't Izumi, no it wasn't...
***
When he arrives he finds her making rice. She dishes it out for seven place settings and he realises what's happening. "There you are Takeshi-san," she says as she places it beside the water cup. She stands up with a smile and freezes when she sees him standing there. "Sakuma-san?" she says and she clutches the tray tightly in her hands.
He stares at her with an expression on his face that she can't understand. It's almost like anger she thinks. "Would you like to join us for dinner?"
His face twitches and he snaps. He turns to the table and turns it over, the plates crashing to the floor. "Sakuma-san!" she screams and tries to salvage the food. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he roars as she tries to pick up a bowl of rice.
"What are you doing?!" she cries out as he takes the bowls of rice and empties them out into the bin. She tries to stop him, trying to grab his arms but he pushes her out of the way and grabs another. "Sakuma-san! Stop it! What are you doing!?" He drops the plate onto the floor and as she tries to run to pick it up, he grabs her by the arm and pulls her out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"What's wrong with you Sakuma-san?!" she asks exasperated. She tries to go back to the kitchen but he pulls her back. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I was making dinner!!"
"For dead people?!" he yells into her face and she blanks.
He holds onto her shoulders and shakes her. "They're dead!" he yells. "They're all dead! They're not going to come back!"
She tries to pry away from him but he shakes her harder. "You waiting for them isn't going to bring them back!"
"Yes it will!" she screams. "If I don't pretend I'll be all alone!"
He stares at her in disbelief. "What?"
"They all died! They all left me. You all left me alone! Mother, Father, Kinzo-san, Takashi-san, Hideki-san, Kenji-san, Sakuma-san! You all left me!" He lets go of her, his hands drop to his sides and he looks at her with wides eyes as tears stream down her face.
"I'm all alone!!" she cries out and she drops to her knees and begins to sob bitterly. "You all died!" she gasps out in between her sobs. Her cries echo through the house and eventually he kneels in front of her and reaches out to console her. "Even you Sakuma-san..." she says bitterly and his hand stops, "I thought you died too and I wanted to go with you all. And then you didn't and you brought me here and left me alone..." She begins to rock her body back and forth, sobbing in her chest. "Why didn't you take me too? You all died for me and you left me all alone..." The sobs become louder and heavier and she cries out heavily, "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..."
Sakuma swallows and slowly reaches out to her. He leans forwards and holds her tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Oujo-san. You're not alone, you were never alone," he whispers into her shoulder as she cries against him. A moaning sound escapes her and she hiccups in her tears. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
***
When she opens her eyes she's in her school uniform and is in the countryside. For miles around there are green hills and valleys and in the distant she almost thinks she can see the house. "Sakuma-san?!" she calls out but there's no one around. "Where am I?" she wonders and she turns around and stares out in shock as she sees them walk towards her. "Kinzo-san, Takeshi-san. Hideki-san, Kenji-san..."
"Yo!" Hideki shouts out and she's frozen.
"You..." The four beam at her as they stop and stand before her, dressed in their yakuza uniform. "Boss!" Kenji calls out and she's bewildered.
"You're all... here," she says in a shaky voice.
"Of course we're here Boss, do you think we're leave you here alone?" Kinzo says kindly as he shakes his fan. Written on the beige fan is Medaka Clan #1! and she blinks as she tries to focus.
"But where am I? And why are you all here?"
"Boss," Takeshi speaks up, "we've come to ask you let us go."
"What?"
"You're keeping us with you and we can't move on as we should," Kinzo says calmly.
"But I don't want you guys to leave me," she says softly and Hideki shakes his head.
"We died, Boss. We have to go to our rightful place."
"No, you can't be dead," she shakes her head as tears begin to run down her face. "You can't leave me!"
"Idiot we aren't leaving you. We just have to go on," he says gruffly and she swallows.
"Boss, please," Kenji says in a sweet and pleading voice. "We fought with honour; please let us go with honour too."
She wipes the tears from her face but more run down, this time faster and more painful. "But I'll be alone..."
"Do you think we'd leave you alone Boss," Takeshi says with a sympathetic smile. "You have Sakuma-san and Mayumi-san."
"What if I forget you?"
"You had better not or I'll come back and kick your ass!" Hideki yelled and Kino smacked him on the back of the head with a fan. A small laugh escapes her lips and she sighs.
"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for you guys to..."
Kinzo shook his head. "It was in our destiny, Boss. We did what we had to do and so should you."
"We want you to have a beautiful, long life, away from yakuza. We want you to live for us," Takeshi explains and she cries out that she understand in between her gasping tears.
"It's been an honour serving you Boss," Kenji says with a smile and the four bowed deeply to her. "You were the best leader we ever had," Takeshi called out. "Thank you for looking after us," Kinzo says. "You were pretty cool afterall," Hideki says as he straightens up.
She swallows hard and takes a deep breath. "It was an honour being with you. I'll never forget you. And I'm really sorry I couldn't come with you!" she says and her sobs weigh her down.
"Oh you idiot, we never wanted you to," Hideki says with a sad smile.
"Thank you very much, I love you all," she says and she bows deeply and solemnly to them. When she straightens there is only Hideki standing.
"Look after yourself Boss," he says.
"Hide-san..."
"Sakuma-san is waiting for you. Look after him too." He lingers for a second before he fades away with a small smile.
She turns around, her hands in her mouth and cries to herself. A warm hand is on her shoulder and she looks at it. "Oujo-san," the man whisers and she turns to see Sakuma looking down at her with concern.
"Sakuma-san," she says in her tears.
"Shall we go home?" he says and when she opens her eyes he's holding her tightly in his arms.
"Oujo-san, are you okay?"
She beams at him through her tears and nods. The breath that had been caught within her releases with his smile and she sighs. "Thank you," she whispers. "I can let them go now."
He smiles at her and hugs her tightly, gently stroking the back of her hair.
***
Izumi stands and smiles brightly as they look on the now clean living room. It had taken an hour and a half but they managed to clear up Sakuma's handiwork.
"Oujo-san," he says timidly. "I'm sorry if I was rough on you," his head is bent low and she shakes her head.
"It's fine Sakuma-san." She rolls her sleaves down and asks if he's going to stay the weekend.
"Yes, if that's okay with you, Oujo-san."
Izumi rolls her eyes. "It's Izumi."
Sakuma blinks at her, "Eh?"
"Call me 'Izumi' Sakuma-san. I don't want to be 'Oujo-san' any more."
He thinks about it for a moment, and opens his mouth to speak but closes it again. "How about 'Madam'?" he offers and she throws a cushion at him.
It bounces off his head and he laughs.
***
The air is clear as she steps back in Asakusa. It's a bright sunny day and she slowly walks down the street in her school uniform.
She stops outside the headquarters and smiles. There's no board outside, no indication of it ever being a yakuza den. Slowly she steps inside, taking in all the memories.
Sakuma looks over as the door opens and he smiles as she steps inside. "Izumi-chan, welcome home."
Izumi beams at him and shuts the door. "I'm home." She glances at the pictures of her family and smiles. "I'm home," she whispers with a smile.
Zomg. That was exhausting. It took me two days but it's done. I've not written anything this intensely since I had my exams in January and I churned out a still incomplete 'Boys Before Flowers' fic...
But I'm so glad I did it; I needed closure over it lol. I was rewatching the first few eps and Sakuma's manhandling of Izumi in ep 6 throughout, and guh, he's hot. *___* Also the pillow scene was for gogomoksori lol. ;)
I know there are a few crack elements but I did it because it would work. The guys coming back might seem weird but I thought it'd work in terms of the show. And I had to keep Mayumi, since she was the only thing keep Izumi from completely losing it, but I didn't want to go through her demons too because it's too draining lol. I put in Hideki in more because I thought he actually did start to like her. Bless him.
But oh. It's done. :D Oh Sakuma-san. ♥