#keiko talks to thin air

[crookedherringcolorclod]

Ryoutei Student Chapter Two: ねえ、聞いた？

You were just resting your head on the desk, your classmates seemed to be chattering away about whatever they wanted to talk about when you heard a thud.

Opening one of your eyes, you saw your friend Hana, a few strands of her dark hair stuck to her face, and she tried to blow them away in hopes to get them out of her sight.

“Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” You commented, watching Hana take her seat next to you. “God, I wish this problem was just about sleep.” Hana groaned as she rubbed her eyes in frustration.

Pushing her seat closer to yours, Hana started to talk. “You’re not going to believe this; this weird person was eyeing me while I was on the train.” Curious and worried, you scooted closer to her, wanting to listen in to what you had to say, the fatigue inside you long gone.

“Are you sure? Did that person follow you here?” You asked frantically, deciding to look at the window next to your seat. Only to find no one in sight, or at least you think so. Hana only shook her head in hopes to alleviate your worries.

Sighing, turned back to your friend. “Hana, you know I can take a train with you, it’s dangerous for you to be out by yourself.”

“I’m seventeen, I can handle myself. Besides, your train goes the opposite way.”

“You live alone. I live with my parents.” You refuted, much to Hana’s dismay.

“I still keep in contact with the neighbors, you know?” Hana mumbled, brushing her hair up into a ponytail. “My parents will come home next week. They’re in America or something.”

“Hey, did you read about that webtoon I sent you?” You rolled your eyes; you know Hana didn’t want to burden you but at the same time, you don’t want to push her. So, you decided to go along with it.

“You mean the comics with ghosts on them?”

Hana let her hair tie go with a snap, aghast at your anticlimactic reaction to her favorite webtoon. “Come on! It’s nice!” You just shrugged, not having much of an opinion on the artist’s work.

“Well, doesn’t the webtoon make you think?” Hana asked, tugging on your jacket’s sleeve. “A lot of paranormal things happened in Ryoutei,” Hana whispered solemnly, referring to the missing girls.

Throughout the years of Ryoutei Academy, girls have disappeared, everyone would say that these girls end up in three different ways. They would either never be seen, they would be found alive and in shock… or the students would have to see a body bag, at least that’s what the 3rd upperclassmen said to you two days ago, which you also told to Hana.

‘It rarely happens though, and you can talk to us if you want.’ Ren interjected as he told the story, ‘It can be tough here, you know? Especially starting your 2nd year and they start asking you about the future.’ He quipped, you recalled how tired and sad Ren was as he looked at an empty desk across them, with nothing but lilies in a vase and a picture of a short-haired girl, smiling.

‘It’s been a week since Keiko left us.’ Yua explained, holding back her tears as she showed you a picture of her and whom you presumed to be Keiko, smiling. “I’m sorry it’s just… it didn’t make any sense.” Yua babbled, wringing the hem of her uniform.

You looked at Yua who started sobbing on Ren’s shoulder, still talking. “The police are still asking us questions...” Yua continued, sniffling. “I told them that she wouldn’t do anything like that… that she would have talked to me… if anything weighed on her shoulders… but they didn’t believe me…” Yua sobbed out as Ren held her hand in hopes to comfort her.

With tears in her eyes, Yua looked at you, her words still haunt you. “The last time I saw Keiko was at school… it was like she vanished into thin air.”

Hana let out a huff, clearly saddened when she recalled Yua’s tears. “Keiko-senpai is still stuck in my mind, it hasn’t been a week and the police are already wrapping things up.” You nodded in affirmation, upset at how the police approached Keiko’s case. They didn’t even have a body to confirm whether she was alive or dead, you even wonder if they checked everywhere. After all, Ryoutei was a huge school, and Keiko could be anywhere.

While you continued to chat with Hana, you noticed your classmate, Ayato dragging a blonde girl out of the classroom, her seat just two rows across yours. “Hana, shouldn’t we stop him?” You asked while pointing at the timid blonde girl, the girl’s pink eyes widened, her brows furrowed, and she was adamantly protesting Ayato.

Before any of you could prevent Ayato from leaving the classroom, the bell rang, and the professor opened the door to your classroom. Robotically, the old professor got his notebook and started calling out names before any of your classmates could sit in their respective seats.

“Aoki Haru?”

“Present.” The boy replied as he sat in the front.

“Fukada Hinata?”

“Present,” Hinata stated as he gathered his notes from his book bag.

“Imai Sakura?”

“Present.” Sakura chimed, her friends still chatting during attendance.

“Komori Yui?”

Silence filled the classroom, and a few of your classmates looked at the empty seat in the middle of the second row where “Komori-san” was supposed to be.

“Komori Yui?” The professor urged, already losing his temper, and tapping his pen on his notebook as if it would magically summon the girl. The professor clicked his tongue in frustration, “Komori Yui, absent.” He muttered under his breath and continued to call out everyone’s names.

“Sakamaki Ayato. Absent as well.”

After the first half of your classes, the bell rang signaling lunch period and you took out your bento while Hana pushed her seat next to yours. “So, I just had this crazy idea.” Hana started, picking a sausage from your bento box with her chopsticks. “Well, what is it?” You asked as you munched on your rice.

You were confused as to why Hana looked nervous until she mentioned you to look inside her school bag to find an Ouija board in between her books. “Hana, how on earth did you slip that in school? Don’t you think this is too much?” You groaned out, you’ve always wondered how Hana came up with these ideas.

“Don’t worry, I searched up the rules and what and what not to do.” Hana coaxed you, holding your hand. Hana squeezed your hands, a solemn expression on her face. “Besides, I won’t force you to play… and I thought we can do this to get some answers for once…” You sighed in defeat, complying with your friend’s plan. After school, you and Hana decided to talk to Yua and Ren about the Ouija board, although hesitant at first, the upperclassmen still accepted the offer in hopes to hear more about Keiko.

Three days later, you and Hana asked the teacher if both of you can go to the restroom, which the teacher allowed. After getting out of the classroom, Hana took your hand as you snuck around the hallways of Ryoutei, going up a flight of stairs to meet up with Ren and Yua, as they were waiting inside an empty classroom.

Hesitantly, you watched Hana place the Ouija board on the floor and you watched the three students gather around the board, placing their fingers on the planchette.

“Is there anyone there?” Hana asked the board, everyone in the room looked at each other. Minutes passed and you started to grow restless, you assumed that the game was nonsense and you stepped towards the board to pick it up. Before anyone could drop the game, the planchette moved, making Yua crawl back in fear and making you take a few steps back from shock.

YES

“Yua-senpai, you can’t do that, you have to come back,” Hana whispered as Yua tries to calm down before going closer to the board while you continue to watch everything unfold.

Ren, who still has his fingers on the planchette decided to ask a question, his voice was small, yet it could still be heard in the quiet room. “Is there anyone with you?” Curious, you decided to peek over his shoulder as the planchette moved across the letters.

M-A-N-Y

While Yua was still afraid, she mustered up the courage to go back to the board and ask the question that has been plaguing her for days on end. Yua never would have thought she would ask spirits for questions, but she felt desperate

“Is Keiko still alive?” Yua asked the board; everyone held their breath as they stared down at the board. Before the planchette could move, you heard something fall from outside. Then a splat, and a crack.

Students from the classroom beside the room you were in came rushing to look out of the windows of their classrooms, confused, screaming at what they saw, and the teachers are trying to call them back to their seats.

The principal’s voice echoed through the speakers, trying to sound calm and composed. “Students in the field, please evacuate and return to your classrooms immediately. The police are on their way.” You peeked through the small window of the door, you could see students whom you could assume came from the fields running back to their classrooms with drops of red on their faces, the look of horror in their eyes was prominent.

“Guys let’s just drop the game now. I think we have to the auditorium.” Said Ren, holding Yua by the shoulder, as well as slowly escorting you and Hana out of the classroom.

“Wait! We haven’t said goodbye yet.” Hana protested, her hands still reaching out for the Ouija board.

“We don’t have much time, Hana.” You pleaded. “We can finish the game later; we can come back after listening to what announcement we have to hear from the principal.” You added, steering Hana away from the Ouija board and the unmoved planchette.

Unbeknownst to you and the other students, the planchette slowly crept to its final answer.

NO

[makairodonx]

Original Characters: Keiko Yamamoto

Keiko Yamamoto is an adolescent sorceress who lives in the Southern Glens, which is situated on the continent of Aetheria in the world of Sekaia, with her family. She is altruistic, caring, compassionate, kind-hearted, optimistic, and tactful, and she loves apples, apple pie and other apple-related recipes, as well as books, cats, crows (both of which have been an integral part of the Yamamoto family history for centuries), and occasionally, astronomy (her father owned an observatory in the middle of the Green Marshes) and aviation (sometimes she likes to magically create small wooden flying crafts with her hands, and her older brothers Hakaru and Satoru are also aviation enthusiasts like her father). Ever since she was ten, Keiko once used to be mocked by some of her classmates at school for having “rabbit-ears” for hair. She learned cooking and gardening from her mother, who also taught her how to handle various herbs and potions, and she also happened to receive a crimson dress with a hat and grey boots, a magic staff made of apple tree wood, a journal with a crow’s feather of everlasting ink, and a scrying stone for the very special occasion of her fifteenth birthday. Keiko has two older brothers and paternal grandparents (her deceased maternal grandparents where the ones who made the dress and the staff for her birthday, and her uncle was also deceased for mysterious reasons) and her parents Hitoshi and Minami once used to travel far and wide to find the secrets behind the creation of the Golden Orb and other magical artefacts of the Dynasty of Trians and prevent them from falling into the hands of greedy goblins. The sorceress also happens to be a loving friend to the adventurous little elf Robby Hide and his talking pet raccoon Venki. The young sorceress also personally believes that selflessness, which is the basis for all good deeds in the world, triumphs over selfishness, that those with loving-kindness in their hearts can make a positive impact upon the world, and that the delusion, greed and ill-will that comes with selfishness are the roots of all the evils in the world.

Keiko is capable of using her hands or staff to cast or break spells/enchantments, conjure or control the four elements of Water, Earth, Air and Fire, or conjure anything out of thin air. As a friend to the forces of nature, she can communicate with animals, plants, trees, gods and spirits in order to understand their feelings and summon them when needed. Keiko can concoct her own potions and is also capable of using her magic, including the use of herbs, to heal others of their wounds or illnesses. As a shapeshifter, Keiko is capable of turning herself into a cat, a giant crow, or a black mare. She is also foretold by an ancient prophecy to be the one who will use her magic to “Pacify the Dragons of Steel” and “Destroy the Golden Orb” in order to end the brutal war that will be fought for the dominion of not only Aetheria, but also all of Sekaia, at the end of the Fifth Age.

[tabletop-nightmare]

I changed headphone jacks and obs fucking reset my mic so I'm not picked up in the recording which is such a fucking travesty but also hilarious because all of my friends sound like they are talking to thin air. Anyway Hollowpoint continues to be fucking amazing. Oh yeah. And Keiko still won.

[thelastifntdragonrider]

my heart is so soft from tonight’s episode

Susanna! 

[tanakeiart]

My Book The Nutcracker is Ready for Pre-Order

Hello! My first book, the Nutcracker, is ready for pre-order! 

I worked on this during my coffee buddy challenge in the spring and I’m very proud of it! All of the illustrations are my original ones and the story was rewritten by me too. 

Shipping is 70% off to Canada and to my followers (if you live outside of Canada and are a follower, mention that in the extra comments on the order form to get the discount!) 

Click here to pre-order The Nutcracker ! https://tanakeiart.wixsite.com/tnkart/the-nutcracker Tentative arrival date is the 27th, so you will definitely get it in time for Christmas. 

Please consider getting one for a  present for someone you love this holiday season! 

[tokkeiko]

berry good’s “Don’t Believe” is a bop and a half. everyone slept on that song. 

[megafurbz]

The mirror of the soul  - By Rouille  ✨👁✨

Tah-tah way-lah (the wise receiver) also called “light sensor”, “infrared port”, “true eye” is a little furb body part located right between the eyes, on the forehead. In french, it is called “amuette”, which mixes the terms “âme” (soul) and “amulette” (amulet). When you talk with furbz, it is very common to hear strange stories : they will tell you that tah-tah way-lah can give you prophetic informations, and visions as well ! Furbz scientists are still researching about the subject, but recent discoveries tend to prove these allegations… Brace yourselves, you are about to enter the world of this little gem that makes one of the most mysterious specificity of the furbz. 

The shape of the tah-tah way-lah can vary with each individual, looking most of the time like a little broccoli or a mountain… 

On the Koo-Wah Dah furbz also called “2005 furbz”, this part is not visible,  being a very thin membrane attached to the skull behind the fur (see picture) It’s a quite different structure, internal and intimately incorporated to the tissues. Moreover, it’s very difficult to observe, as it quickly disintegrate at air contact. But it seems to ensure almost the same fonctions, capturing light like a solar panel capable to analyse its variations. 

When you look inside the classic tah-tah way-lah, you can see that it is composed of three very little organs, two infrared glands and one small light sensitive part, directly linked to the perception of the eyes. They work complementary and are involved in the communication. 

It is right to call it “third eye” because the tah-tah way-lah works as a complementary “eye”, capturing informations about light variations. But it’s not its only role : this is a place where infrared signals can be emitted or received. (in the case of Koo-Wah Dah Furbz, it is gamma waves).

We know that the way furbies communicate is incredibly complex, but this feature deepens it even more: we are able to send telepathic messages directly to the brain, through the tah-tah way-lah, without even talking or moving ! Those messages consist in phrases, images and even abstract concepts.

It is a power you can develop with time, telepathy does require a little training ! Some furbz doesn’t even need to be in the same room to talk to each other !

But there is more: The professor Da-way, in recent research, observed that the light sensor sometimes act inverted. Instead of capting light, it will emit light inside of the mind : as a video-projector, and produce imagery, which synced with the furby own brain waves, feels like very clear visions. These are not the fruit of external captation, they come from within.  This is also different from dreaming, because the tah-tah way-lah deactivates when you sleep. The furbz all said that the visions often occur after prolonged social situations, which stimulate the communication system. It may cause a kind of overload and allow extra informations to continue coming after the conversation is over. 

The question is, why the sensor invert itself ? What are those images, where do they really come from if they’re not the result of telepathic communication ? 

Many are the furbz amongst the community to interpret that phenomenons as glimpses of the future. That is why we are known as fortune tellers..!

Galantina Vernèse, in her book “Koh-thinkers” writes:

“When you need an information, you can reach it by the help of connected brains. You have to open your mind and you’re getting the answers thanks to the collective furby conscience which is outside, in the clouds. But to be understood, the profond sense of those answers, must be searched inside.”  

So, is the truth hidden inside of all furbz ? Keep your amulet clear, it could help you pass through the looking glass… 

Oh-Toh-Mah…

🥦

illustration by Keiko Crana

[angelicsentinel]

I really missed some of your kaiao writing so I have a small prompt idea that you might feel like writing :) Kaito helping Aoko through her period pains or something along those lines? Periods just aren't often seen in fics and I understand why but I'm having cramps and I'm craving some KaiAo :)

I haven’t posted any lately? Huh. Guess not. Well, I have been writing on a fic since I received that ask about Aoko in February. This prompt fits neatly into my Black & Blue series, which is an examination of their childhood friendship year by year starting from age 4.

This is year 16 - Shame. 

As can be inferred by the title, my fill does touch on the embarrassment and stigma, so that’s something to be aware of.

—————————————————————– 

They’re walking down the street. Kaito has a yakitori stick in his mouth, chewing on the end, going onand on about how wrong the staging was in some film Aoko halfremembers watching, when she feels air hitting a wet patch on her legas she takes another step.

Herstomach sinks, but she mutters an excuse to Kaito and heads to thenearest restroom. She’s been unusually heavy lately, but surely.

Sheslams the door shut to the stall and sits down to find that, yes,she’s bled through, and yes, it’s a visible stain.

Shecurls in on herself. At a time like this! Any number of people couldhave seen. And around Kaito too. The things he’d say if he found out!

Shehas a spare, but she probably can’t make it home with it, and shehates using paper. It doesn’t matter because she can’t go outanyway.

Sheopens her phone to call Keiko, but then she realizes she’sout-of-town with her family right now, and Aoko isn’t really closeenough to her other classmates to call them.

Aokobrightens. Maybe Akako-chan? But she doesn’t have her number saved,and the thought of the elegant beauty seeing her like this isembarrassing.

Kaito’smom is in Las Vegas, so that’s out.

Andshe can’t call her dad. That would be even worse. The commotion he’dmake—

Abruptly,she misses her mom. It cuts through her like a knife, taking herbreath away.

Whatis Aoko supposed to do now?

Whydoes this always happen to her? Her bag isn’t big enough to positionover her backside, and she’s not wearing anything she could use tocover herself. She’d opted for a thick long sleeved top, rather thana coat.

She’strapped in the restroom. And Kaito’s still out there, waiting forher, and—and—

Aokocan’t help it. Her nose burns, and her eyes grow hot, and big, fat,ugly tears drip down her face. Once they’ve started, she can’t stopthem.

Shesobs, barely managing to choke back the noise.

Whatis she going to do?

Shecan’t stay in here forever.

ButKaito’s out there. Kaito, who flips her skirt, who already treats herlike something alien. He has ever since her breasts began to grow.

Aokowishes things weren’t so awkward between them now.

Shemisses him so much. They hardly ever spend any time together anymoreoutside school.

Shemisses falling asleep together. It hadn’t occurred to her that therehad been anything wrong with that until her father had yelled at themboth when he’d found her on top of Kaito fast asleep.

Andmaybe her skirt had ridden up, but it wasn’t like that. Theywere just sleeping. It had been innocent.

Andit’s not like they didn’t know the implications, Kaito’s mom had satthem both down when they were about twelve and talked to them aboutit. They’d still done everything together anyway. Still hadsleepovers.

Butafter that, Kaito got weird about everything.

SometimesAoko wishes they’d never grown up. She thinks the Kaito before wouldhave understood.

Notthis one.

Shechokes back another sob.

“Aoko,you in there?” A knock at the stall door. It’s Kaito. Her day couldnot get any worse. She’s just glad she’s the only one in here.

Shehiccups. “Go away, Bakaito!” she shouts. “You shouldn’t even bein here anyway!”

“Likethat’s going to stop me Ahoko, what’s wrong?” he says, knockingat the door again. “Did you fall in?”

“No!”Oh no, no no no Aoko has never been more embarrassed in her entirelife. He followed her in here and he’s still teasing her and shecan’t take that, not right now!

“Youknow, you shouldn’t be embarrassed about it, everybody does it, evengirls, though they don’t like to admit it. You’ve just been in therean awfully long time—”

“Leaveme alone!” she screams. She wants to die. “Just leave mealone,” she repeats more quietly, begging.

“There’sa place nearby, I can get you some stomach medicine—”

“Ibled through, alright? Is that what you want to know?” Aokosays. “Now leave me alone!”

Apause.

Thena bundle of cloth sails over the top of the stall and hits her in theface. It’s Kaito’s hooded jacket. “That should be long enough tocover you, right?” he says through the door. “I can go getyou something for the cramps?”

“Kaito?”Aoko asks, startled out of her tears.

“—orsome lady stuff, do you need any lady stuff?” he asks, audiblyflustered.

“Maybesome ‘lady stuff’ for a heavier flow?” she teases him.

“Okay.Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back. Um, not that you can goanywhere, but uh, you know what I mean.” Kaito clears histhroat.

Shehears him leave. That had not been what she was expecting at all.Aoko didn’t think he’d actually do it.

Shepresses his jacket to her face, wiping her eyes with the sleeve.Kaito’s mean to her often. He was even when they were kids. She’soften been mean to him right back. But It was always comfortable.Neither one of them had ever really meant anything by it.

Butunderneath that all that posturing, he’s always had a deep kindness.

Howhad she forgotten?

Thisdistance between them….

That“date,” where he hadn’t bothered to show up for half of it.At least she’d managed to give him a solid alibi.

Aokoknew that world wasn’t for her, but it didn’t stop her from watchinghis back as he strode further and further from her.

Sheholds Kaito’s jacket to her chest and lets her mind wander, spacingout. Her eyes hurt, and she feels shaky. Her cramps have started backup, too, a dull throb in her lower back.

“Aoko?”Kaito’s back.

“Stillhere,” she says.

“Here,”he says, holding a thin package above the stall before tossing itdown to her with pinpoint accuracy. It’s exactly what she needs.

Shefinishes her business and pulls Kaito’s jacket over her head. Itfalls to mid thigh and hangs over her hands by several centimeters.

Sheopens the door to find Kaito staring at her with a worriedexpression.

Hehas several more bags with him.

“Howmuch did you get?” Aoko says, incredulous.

“Um,”he says, blushing. “It’s notall that, I also got you an electric blanket to soothe the pain—Idon’t know if you have one—and some chocolate, and some medicinefor cramps, and these bath salts are supposed to help aches, and—”

Aokothrows her arms around him. “Thank you,” she says againsthis chest. His arms come to settle on her lower back, easy andfamiliar though they haven’t hugged like this in a long time.

“Noproblem, Ahoko,” he says before reaching up and tucking a strandof hair behind her ear. “Let’s get you home, okay?”

“Okay,”she says.

Kaitodoes get a dirty look sent his way as they leave, but he’s too busyhovering to pay any attention to it.

Theundivided attention is…nice.

Thewalk back home is mostly quiet. They’re not touching, but they’rewalking much closer together than they usually do.

Whenthey arrive to her house, Kaito asks her to leave her clothes outsidethe bathroom door.

Shewashes herself, then soaks to soothe the ache.

Aokosteps out of the bath revitalized. She pulls on an old oversizeshirt and a pair of long athletic shorts Kaito had left over,something nice and comfortable.

Whenshe enters the back room, Kaito’s standing in front of the machine,laundering her clothes. She hadn’t wanted to do it as terrible as shefeels.

“Theblanket’s on, I left it on the table,” he says. “And I gotyou some water.”

Aokojust stares, unable to think of anything to say.

Kaitolaughs, then scratches the back of his head. “Aoko?”

Thenshe starts crying again. It’s really too much. She’s overwhelmed;he’s being so nice to her.

“Aoko!?Geez, what did I do now?” he says, coming closer and putting hishands on her arms, close to her shoulders. He’s looking down at her,eyes wide and earnest, and worried that he’s done something wrong.

Aokocan’t help it; she starts to giggle at the expression on his face.

“Aoko?”Kaito asks again.

“Everything.You did everything, Kaito.”

Hisfingers dig into her arms, and he turns red again, looking away.“Yeah, well. I wasn’t going to leave you like that.”

“I’mso glad,” she says. “Thank you.” She reaches for hishand.

Hisblush deepens, but he lets her take it.

“Doyou remember when we were kids?” Aoko asks.

“Thatcovers a lot of things.”

“WhenI was sick, or hurt, or after Mom—” she falters.

Kaitosqueezes her hand. “Yeah, I remember,” he says.

“Canwe?” she asks.

Hefurrows his brow. “I don’t know, Aoko.”

“Dadwon’t be home. He’s already said.” Any other boy would take thatas a suggestion for something else. But Kaito knows exactly whatshe’s talking about, and his expression eases.

“Yeah,”he says.

Thecontrollers are wireless now, and the games sometimes digital, butAoko is still the number one indisputable combo queen for all Kaito’sdexterity, and it isn’t long before Kaito’s swearing at the screen asAoko’s character gives a victory pose.

Aokogrins, tucks her cold toes underneath Kaito’s leg and wiggles them.

“Stopthat!” he says, lunging for her and tickling her sides.

Sheshrieks, jerking back, controller in one hand, falling back on theheated blanket, accidentally kneeing him in the stomach, but hepresses on until he’s over her, still tickling as she laughs hard.

Buthe stops suddenly. Kaito’s eyes are bright, sparkling with laughter,and his mouth is parted, and he’s staring down at her as ifmesmerized.

He’sso close. His hand is still on her lower stomach, warm and present.Soothing to the dull ache there.

Itwouldn’t take much for Aoko to close the distance. She should dosomething, pull him closer—

Butbefore she can, Kaito sits back and says, “You won. That meansyou want your thug hug, right?”

“Yeah,”Aoko says.

“Istill think it’s a dumb name,” he says.

“Iwas eight!” she protests.

“Sowas I, and I thought it was dumb then too,” he says. “C'mere,”he says, and pulls her close.

Aokorests her head against Kaito’s chest. His heart is racing. “Imiss this,” she says. “We never do anything togetheranymore.”

“Aoko—”

“Don’tmake it complicated. Just give me now, alright?” she murmurs.She turns, resting the back of her head against his shoulder as hisarm comes to settle at her waist. His hand splayed across her stomachis so very warm.

“Yeah.I can do that,” he says quietly.

Maybethings haven’t changed as much between them as she thought.

[dragonandtiger]

Dreaming To Reality: Oneiromancy Chapter Twelve - 26

“It’s understandable,” Higashi said, gently. “We’ve missed you terribly, Ryo… and feared the worst.”

An awkward laugh trickled out of Ryo, and he couldn’t meet Higashi’s gaze. “It’s weird… I really don’t feel like I’ve been gone that long. Like I just… fell asleep right after the meeting we had back then before we were supposed to go off to fight Zeed, and I just had a bad nightmare I can’t remember much of. It feels like I only saw you just the other day, Higashi, not three years ago.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Higashi said, his eyes soft with sympathy.

“T-that’s right,” Monodramon said as he nodded. “Given where you were a-and who you were with… I-I don’t think any good could come from that.”

“Yeah…,” Ryo murmured. Though he had no memory of the Dark Ocean, except for the rare times he went to the Dark World with Keiko and Nyamon as escort years ago, the thought of being trapped there for so long made him shiver.

Thinking of his friends snapped Ryo back to attention, and he turned back to Higashi, seized with this sudden desperate need to find Keiko immediately. “Higashi? Do you have any idea where Keiko might be? I heard she went missing, and I was hoping maybe she was with Narakumon and Tenraimon all this time and just couldn’t tell her brother and sister anything…?”

Higashi’s expression stiffened again. He hesitated before he looked away, raising his hand to his chest. “I…”

“O-oh, um,” Monodramon hesitated before he glanced between Ryo and Higashi. “A-actually… Keiko is… in the Dark World. I think.”

Higashi jerked and turned to stare at Monodramon. “What!?”

“Really?” Ryo asked, feeling a rush of relief run through him. “That’s great!”

“Y-yes,” Monodramon said. “I c-c-c-couldn’t… see her, but the Chosen Children were able to talk to her, and she even came with us to help rescue you!”

Ryo blinked and stared blankly at Monodramon. “Couldn’t see her?”

Monodramon paused before he lowered his head. “N-no. It just looked like they were talking to thin air.”

Higashi stared at Monodramon before he reached up to grab at the front of his robes, as if clutching his heart.

[makairodonx]

Keiko Tells A Story to Melinda

“Can you tell me a little summary of your exciting story?” Melinda asked me as we had tea together on a round wooden table at her house one summer night. “Sure,” I replied. “Here I go now...” “...It all started when my parents gave me a nice, shiny telescope for my fifteenth birthday. After receiving grim news that the Last Trian, an ancient, benevolent ruler of the Wider World, may not recover from a serious illness, I used my new birthday present to spot a mysterious comet landing far away upon a huge, ancient tree which was probably the last of its kind. Afterwards the Thubanians invaded the Southern Glens where I used to live for over fifteen years, and, despite my best efforts to stop their leader, Tarjus the Just, from threatening me and my family, I decided to run away into the surrounding woods so as to escape their onslaught, and after I fell asleep for a while, Venkula the Raccoon and her human master Robert Hide came to wake me up and tell me important news. They told me that they were both sent by the great prophet Magellon to find me here in these woods, while he magically whisked the rest of my family into his protective custody. So Venkula and Robert told me that Magellon knows that only I could fulfill a prophecy he foretold which concerns the fate of the Wider World following the death of the Last Trian: That after the Golden Orb falls upon the Lonely Tree, only a fifteen-year-old black-haired sorceress dressed in red, who could tame the forces of nature, can, with certain allies at her side, prevent two warring races from fighting over the Golden Orb and destroy the object herself, so that a hundred-thousand white birds may fly over the Forest of Hope where the Lonely Tree is.” “Nice...” Melinda said, “Keep it up, my friend!” “So Venkula and Robert magically turned my ragged clothes into a fine, crimson-red dress with a white collar, white sleeves and a white hem, replete with grey boots and a crimson-red hat with a white bow tied to the front, and my hair quickly grew longer till it almost reached my hips. With this new outfit the two told me that I now had magical powers related to controlling the natural elements and summoning the nature spirits to come at my side, and so, throughout my journey to reach the Lonely Tree, they said to me that it is very important for me to use my magical powers in bringing justice to the warring races for their actions towards nature and destroying the dangerous celestial spirit which hatches out of the Golden Orb, so that I could finally fulfill the prophecy as expected.” “Good...” Melinda replied, “So you had to use your magical powers when it came to stopping the Warring Races from spoiling the nature-ruled world around you wherever you went, right?” “Yes, Melinda,” I replied, “That’s right. Robert Hide and his pet raccoon Venkula told me that ever since the Golden Orb landed upon the Lonely Tree, the Thubanians and the Udoli have invaded and plundered the nature-ruled lands surrounding the Forest of Hope in search of the huge, ancient tree, so that they could seize the Orb held within its branches and use its very destructive power for their own greedy motives. They also told me that if I was to fail in preventing this from happening, then the entire Wider World might suffer the wrath of the great celestial spirit which hatches out of the Golden Orb upon getting aroused to anger. So Robert and Venkula said to me that throughout my journey to reach the Lonely Tree before the Warring Races do so, I can manipulate the four natural elements of Water, Earth, Air and Fire, summon forth any powerful nature spirits to assist me, or cast any sorts of spells, all for the use of either stopping the Thubanians from building a factory, logging down a forest, or polluting a river, or stopping the Udolai from terrorizing villages of innocents, hunting down any spirits or harassing those who revere them, and so forth. All this proved to be highly important for the health of all the nature-ruled lands I visited, as well as for those who venerate the nature spirits for keeping their lands sacred and pure...and above all, proving to others around me wherever I went that I was a young sorceress of great renown, steadfast in bringing justice to the actions of Warring Races so that they won’t be able to invade the Forest of Hope, and therefore fulfill the prophecy concerning the destruction of the Golden Orb which rests in my magic hands and not theirs.” “Nice, Keiko...So did Robert Hide and Venkula the Raccoon give you a short, little tutorial on how to use your magic powers the right and proper way? For I’ve seen from others that you have not attended a school for young sorceresses like you lately.” “Ummm....” I explained, “Of course they did. It was Robert who, out of thin air, presented me with some small obstacles for me to face with any of the natural elements to manipulate at hand. He told me that it is Water which works against Fire, it is Earth which works against Air, and so forth, and it was also he who said to me that most of the Elements are represented as balls or streams of colored flame which fly straight out of the user’s hands to inflict certain levels of damage against opponents when used for combat purposes. Venkula also said that I should only use the elements for benevolent purposes only, such as for healing others, and she also gave me a special kind of whistle called the ‘Spirit Whistle’ which I could use to summon any nature spirits to help me out in any situations which require their use, such as for when it comes to going across a difficult area which cannot be easily traversed by foot, or whenever I encounter bands of the Warring Races intent on threatening others into their submission. She and her master also taught me how to cast spells and heal others correctly as well.” “So after this quick tutorial, you were all set to go on your long adventure to the Forest of Hope...with your..companions?” “Yes, Melinda. It was the audacious Robert who helped me to get along with people whom I was not familiar with, while his wise pet raccoon gave me practical advice on any decisions I was to make, as well as important tips on how to seek understanding with the Warring Races without ever having to bring revenge upon them for their actions, as well as some clever little jokes sometimes...and I clearly remember one big tip of advice from her, and it is that ‘your eyes shall not be blinded by hate as you find anything bad which exists in anything good, and anything good which exists in anything bad.’” “Wow...” Melinda said, “What a nice saying!” “Anyway....” I continued, “throughout my journey, I had loving companions with whom I could talk and relate to, and they both served as important guides of information for all the places, landmarks, people, creatures and objects I would stumble upon each strange, new land I came across. And they also gave me a special diary which would automatically create a new page each time I complete the previous one, and permanently save all that I wrote, so that the collective memory of all my travels, and what I did at the time, will never be forgotten....for anyone like you and I to read!” “That’s wonderful! I hope your stories will live on and on for others to see-“ I giggled with a small smile. “I hope I may get a successful career as a prolific writer of short and long stories, perhaps!” -followed by some more giggling. “But well, then, let’s get back to the journey for now. Are you ready?” “Of course I am,” Melinda replied, “Go ahead.” “Okay...” I began. “I happened to do so many things and deeds at the time that they’re all properly recorded in the pages of my diary...but let me just tell you about nearly all that I did throughout those weeks and weeks to crescent the Lonely Tree and fulfill the prophecy regarding the Golden Orb, though. “So I first went down to the Green Marshes, which my companions said was the home of the Udolai, the dark-skinned spear-wielding enemies of the Thubanians. After exploring the swampy forests, we crossed a small river with the use of a single vine hanging from one of the trees, and then I used a wooden canoe to cross a great cypress swamp which was full of many birds and other creatures. And after rowing past a giant steamboat and through a fishing village on stilts, we headed straight to the nearby woods to spend the coming night, and we slept on the branches of one of the big trees. Soon, as the full moon rose up over the woods, a small herd of Moon-Crests came by to munch on the leaves of the trees and bushes before our eyes...and quickly disappeared behind the brush, since my companions told me that they were very shy creatures not eager to come near mankind, and that much of their woodland homes have been destroyed by the logging activities of the Warring Races for a while. “The next day, we went out to explore more of the Green Marshes, which included seeing two Hook-Jaws fighting over a large turtle, encountering a party of wandering knights led by Beshalus the Bold at a small stream, and fending off an angry swarm of Peg-Heads trying to protect their treetop homes from our presence. Yet we eventually came across a great, wooden watchtower which my companions said was the famous Tower of Aebatin, with which the Compteians had long used for keeping a watch of the southern borders of their kingdom for any enemy intrusions or anything of the like...but for now, though, we used the watchtower to get a high, high view of the lands surrounding the Green Marshes, and from there, we also saw a mysterious green-and-white train passing by the Black Mountains, situated in the Black Valley where the Kingdom of Compteia was. So we boarded the train for that land...(I remember how I used to sleep on a bunk-bed and gaze at the Full Moon sometimes, while my companions slept on a bed below me, and I also remember all the delicious foods given to us in a separate dining car...more or less like a tavern or a pub than a dining car...known as “The Leaping Tabby”.)...and soon we ended up in Compteia, where me also met Beshalus the Bold for a second time. And when I asked him of a safe passage to where the Forest of Despair was, he told me that the only path to reach it lies deep through the Black Mountains, and that it is too narrow and dangerous to be set upon by foot. So I heeded the advice of my companions to go at the foot of the mountains and tame a Sky-Horse which we could use to fly over the mountains and reach a huge hill which sits before where the Forest of Despair was. There we found a small cottage where an old woman and her granddaughter gave us food to eat and a place to sleep. But they told us that the the Forest of Despair is full of huge, Dark Serpents which slither among the trees and devour un-cautious people from above. So once we went down into the woods the next day, I used my magic to fend off the attacking serpents one by one, till we entered the Silver Plains and came across a flock of Field-Swans which were grazing upon the grass and bushes. When Thubanian military airships flew overhead and caused the big creatures to bound off over the wide, grassy hills, I used one of them to take me and my companions off towards the Sands of Fate, where it is said that there is an underground passage which leads anyone brave enough to face its dangers straight into where the Hills of Fire are. So through the Amber Caverns I used my magic to ward off dozens of huge spiders which blocked quite a couple of tunnels which led me and my companions straight into a huge, dark, stalagmite and stalactite-ridden lair where an enormous, terrible centipede resides. After quite a tense battle, though, the monster left behind a wooden staff which I could use for manipulating the four elements with, and then we finally found a portal which lead us straight into where the Hills of Fire were. There we met a Hill-Worm named Julius who, despite looking like a menacing beast with his long horns, sharp teeth and fiery breath, happened to help us reach where the Great Canyon, the landmark which separates the Hills of Fire from where the Forest of Hope was, with his incredible sense of smell, all while helping us to fend off any dangers we would face along the way, such as advancing bands of the Warring Races, which were eventually taken care off with the help of Field-Swans, Stone-Worms and other nature spirits which I summoned with the use of the Spirit-Whistle. And when my companions and I finally reached the Great Canyon, we used the same Sky-Horse which flew us over the Black Mountains to take us over to where the Four Cliffs, the landmark which marks the southern borders of the Forest of Hope, was. But upon getting there, though, we found out that the Thubanians had just built a great Factory-Fort situated not too far from where the Lonely Tree was. It had tall smokestacks billowing tons of reddish smoke into the air, a few military airships circling it from above, huge chambers for which dozens of tree trunks were being burned and churned, and from high over its spiraling walls, weapons of war were being built for a final battle against the Udolai. I questioned the reason as to why one of the two Warring Races would have an installation close to where the Lonely Tree was, and so, with Julius summoned at our side to help us with his horns, sheer size and fiery breath, we burst into the Factory-Fort, tackled the armed guards and soldiers one by one as we ascended the spiraling way up, and soon we entered the throne room of Emperor Tarjus the Just, situated at the top of the installation. It was the first time I ever met him in person ever since I tried to stop the advance of his army from threatening my family about 10 weeks prior, and now, armed with magical powers as the Sorceress of Leaf and Sand, I was able to confront him and ask him repeatedly about why he would base his troops dangerously close to where the Lonely Tree was, and what his main motives to seize the Golden Orb were. But upon explicitly telling me that he sought the powerful energy of the Golden Orb just for the recovery of his dying homeland, which had been devastated by countless natural disasters, Emperor Tarjus the Just went out to the balcony of his fort and showed me much of the Forest of Hope being burned, so that his troops could use the clearings to reach the Lonely Tree before the Udolai, who were also burning parts of the Forest themselves, could do so. After telling him urgently that to seize the Lonely Tree would mean provoking the wrath of the celestial spirit which hatches out of the Golden Orb, I used the Sky-Horse to fly me straight to the woods, where I could intervene to stop the Warring Races from waging the battle for the Lonely Tree with all my magical powers and the aid of all the nature spirits at my side, while Tarjus the Just went ahead with trying to restrain his own troops from reaching the tree, despite the actions of his own fiercely rebellious generals. Initially the great battle went quite well for me and my companions, and even the knight Beshalus the Bold and his knights came in to help me in my cause, but soon I got knocked down by a Thubanian war-machine which was eventually brought down by none other than Julius himself, who continued to help me in restraining the Warring Races as I went ahead with destroying the Golden Orb with all the natural elements and spells brought at my disposal. Yet however, though, the Lonely Tree itself suddenly caught on fire somehow and the celestial spirit was immediately released out of the orb. I desperately tried to restrain the spirit from climbing out of the burning tree, but it unleashed its impressive wrath of destruction upon the whole Forest of Hope and everything inside it, including the Thubanian war-machines, and soon, all that was left was a very desolate landscape and a great crater from upon where the ancient tree stood. But much to the astonishment of my companions and all the others around me, all the nature spirits were able to find my unconscious body and raise me up from the ground, and then, in an instant, all sorts of grasses, bushes plants and trees sprang up to bring the Forest of Hope back to life, including even the Lonely Tree itself, which arose in splendid fashion from the ash-laden crater, as my eyes beheld the sight of a hundred-thousand white birds flying over the woods and across the clear grayish-blue sky. And After I thanked the nature spirits for helping me to bring justice to the Warring Races, fulfill my mission to destroy the Golden Orb, and therefore save my life in the process of doing so, my companions and I saw the Thubanians and the Udolai departed the newly-risen Forest of Hope and the surrounding lands, never to come there for any riches once again. I decided for a while to lead a happy life with my companions and allies such as Beshalus the Bold...yet one day, though, Robert and Venkula told me that from a message sent to them by messenger crows, Magellon the Wise has finally been happy to witness his ancient prophecy being fulfilled, and that he has also returned my family back to my old house situated deep in the Southern Glens, which have also completely recovered from the celestial spirit’s wrath as well. So, after a visit to Magellon the Wise, with whom I had quite an excited talk regarding my relationship with nature, Robert and Venkula allowed me to return to my old house one fine evening, as the sun was setting down under the hills and trees, and tell my excited family all about my great adventure to fulfill Magellon’s Prophecy at dinner that night. And I also allowed my parents and siblings to have a look at everything that I wrote in my diary, too...now it’s in their custody....after I allowed Robert and Venkula to come in for a visit with them at my old house, and after they allowed Magellon to visit me with my family the next day as well. And I’m really sure, too, to let you know that my family is amazed of my magical prowess as The Sorceress of Leaf and Sand!” “Fantastic, Keiko Yamamoto!” Exclaimed Melinda with a big smile on her face, “I really love it! It’s so amazing!! I’m sure you’ll become a prolific writer of great renown, won’t you, my friend?” “Oh...” I smiled jokingly, “Sure I may....yet it’s a possibility, though, since I need to make copies of the same story to be read by other people besides my family and close relations, after all...” “So can you let me read your diary some day, then?” “Yes I can, but only when you visit my family and get permission from them, though. For my parents may not like it if some stranger like you takes anything belonging to their household without them knowing it.” “Good, my friend....” Melinda remarked, “now I’m starting to become a sorceress like you are..With all the bronze coins and silver nuggets I have, I’m currently getting my own spell-book and my own tools for casting my own spells...” “And you still haven’t learned how to manipulate the natural elements, summon nature spirits or heal others, haven’t you?” I asked. “For I know how to cast spells without the aid of wands, stones or other kinds of objects or tools, based on what Robert and Venkula showed me...” “Well...um...I’m beginning to learn stuff related to alchemy and divination, so that I can practice transmutations of base metals into noble metals, and of how to read peoples’ minds or foresee the future...and I’m also learning a bit about stuff related to shape-shifting, too, so that I can know how to shape-shift into a cat or anything else I want, soon...” “Nice, Melinda...” I said. “I think I have to go back to my family now. They’re probably waiting for me to return before the moon rises!” “Thanks, Keiko,” Melinda replied as I got up and pushed the wooden chair forward. “Thanks for telling your great story for me to hear. And I really love it, too.” “You’re welcome, Melinda,” I replied as she got up. “You’re welcome for letting me have some tea with you at your kitchen in this house of yours, and I also look forward to visiting you again someday...” “Sure, my friend,” Melinda smiled. “You’re always welcome into my house, and it’s a nice pleasure to spend time with my loving family and I whenever you come around, either alone or with your family...and I’ll see you soon, too, by the way!“ “Okay then, Melinda,” I turned to face my friend as I headed out the front door and straight into the cold night, “Sleep well with your family, and dream sweet dreams as you do so!” “For sure, Keiko Yamaguchi!” “Yamamoto!” I replied with a quick giggle. “Sorry if I forgot to say your last name the right way!” “That’s alright...so just go to sleep for now!” “All right, then...” Melinda closed the front door and turned off the lights of their house with her parents and siblings.

[katsuki-creativewriting]

Shattered

Characters included:

Yukie Tanaka

Chiyoko Kitamura

This includes: Mention of drugs. If you are unfamiliar with this type of topic, I advise you to reconsider.

By the time Yukie and Chiyoko reached halfway to their destination, the sky was dismal and at a ball of dismay. No fights among the clouds, just salty dewdrops falling from the dark, shaded sky. They were thirty minutes exact prior to the capital city, Tokyo. They were revisiting the bustling city once again. Why? This was due to the sheer disappointment from their last arrival; learning about the news of Chiyoko's Father, and his relocation to another area which has become non-existence to anyone accustomed to the sudden blow. Her father didn't have friends from her informative gatherings, but quite a few acquaintances.

In the end, all that racket and shocked expressions were all for nothing, as Keiko confirmed that the news was a scrap and story. A false truth. That was when Chiyoko's little spark had lit up once again. Along on the journey, the tenseness in her body grew and continued on every minute they passed along the road; as well as her spark. The build-up of emotions in her body grew at a quick pace and caused her head to spin; like there was something growing inside her, rising to her throat and head. She couldn't tell if this sensation was a "good or bad" thing.

Yukie took a quick glance back to see Chiyoko - or just the spare helmet she was wearing - who was still holding on tightly onto her waist, like a little anxious child. Her firm grip was tight; restricting as a corset.

With just the tip of her lungs, she shouted through her helmet, "Are you OK, Chiyoko?" Her words were muffled through the inside of her helmet and the sound of the bike's engine didn't help either. Miraculously, Chiyoko was able to hear at least, "You OK? --". She gave Yukie a barely audible "Yes!"

Yukie left her be and she continued the journey in silence. Bringing up a conversation now would seem pointless, especially with the howling noises surrounding them.

Fifteen minutes left... Hopefully. Yukie estimated to herself. She was tired of this long ride.

It felt like longer when the two girls heard the sound of a sudden clash in the sky that snapped them out of their trance. The sky was angry and the girls had reached Tokyo. Finally. The storm came at the right time; the perfect time to wake them up!

Chiyoko gave Yukie the address to where her Father should be before they left. Both of them knew exactly where to go next. The imprinted address was as vivid as a painting in their mind. The few last roads were surprisingly bumpy and the area seemed to be uncomfortably quiet. Where were they going?

As the motorcycle came close to a stack of apartments, the motorcycle came to a halt from the brakes, causing Chiyoko to accidentally collide her head into Yukie's back. Yukie briskly removed her helmet and turned to her back to see Chiyoko trying to prop herself back up.

"Sorry, that was very sudden of me..." She said with an apologetic smile.

Chiyoko removed her helmet instantly after she clumsily got off and brushed her clothes with her bare hands. She noticed Yukie taking a quick look at the pile of apartments.

"I hope this is the place." She muttered, not once turning to Chiyoko.

Chiyoko nervously nodded, replying with an "mm..." sound as she made her way to the back of the motorcycle to pack away the spare helmet and unbox the package full of loose items juggling around the box like precious jewellery.

"Are you going to greet him by yourself?" Yukie asked, her tone sincere.

Chiyoko nodded once more. She wished to settle the situation with just her and her father and hopefully, nothing goes out the window. Chiyoko pit-pattered her way towards the steel stairs. The sounds of 'clenching' made her twitch for every step she made. One by one, the sound continued. The room she was trying to track down was room 245. The third floor to her right, if the instructions are as correct as they are written on the scribbled piece of paper.

The third floor... Chiyoko thought. To my right... Room 245...

The tension continued to build up. From here, it was exhilarating, yet there was a blight in that elated feeling.

Thoughts...

They continued to spiral around inside her head. With the mix of tension and excitement bouncing around inside her body, she couldn't find the time to put it in the back of her mind. The only thing she was thinking about was... Her father. Those two words caused this unhealthy rush.

243... 244... And... 245.

This was it, this was the room, the faithful number, the moment of truth. Will, she finally be able to see him, speak to him, hug him? What would she do? Would she tremble at the sight? What if he sees nothing about her? Will he... Remember her now after all those years...

All those pills, drowning him in everlasting sadness from her Mother's departure?

She could sense her lips were crumbling, her smooth, delicate skin cracking all over again like a Chinese doll. She never felt so scared to just knock on a door. A door of a person she knew. She clamped her eyes shut and held her breath in to keep her composure. With the package in hand on her left, she used the right to knock on the door.

But her brain stopped ticking and her fist froze into place.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't knock on that one door. What was stopping her? The number stuck on the door? Paranoid thoughts? What was it?

All those exhilarating emotions were no longer juggling around in her body. She felt like a statue. Where did that spark of excitement go? Did the tree in her throat die? Did it burn down from the pain in her chest? If so, what happened to the ashes?

She felt as though her emotions have vanished into thin air, nowhere to be seen. She clutched onto the box with both hands. Looking down, she used to last of her thoughts to think about what she was doing. She even had the idea of turning back and never looking back. But if she were to do that, all that research and the repetitive, long journey would be thrown away and wasted.

She let out a cold sigh. "I'm sorry, Father..."

                                                          . . .

From the apartments, a knock sent an instant shock to the apartment. Room 245. A slender man made his way to the door. I wonder who that could be? He thought. He never expected any visitors, in fact, he hardly gets any. With just a click, he turned the knob of the door and slightly opened the door. He peered through the outside only to see no one around.

Could it be just a prank? He observed the outside. Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps briskly striding their way down the stairs. He reluctantly walked out of his apartment to get a better view of the racket, only to be stopped by a package on the floor. He gazed at the package standing in front of him and knelt down to take it in his custody.

"Odd... I don't recall ordering anything..."

He walked back inside of his apartment, using the left of his hand to lock the door and sat down in his studio on the worn-out couch.

"I wonder who could've sent me this...?"

                                                           . . .

Chiyoko skimmed her way down the steel stairs, almost toppling nearly every step from her lack of vigilance. She hopped off the last step to rush to Yukie leaning on her motorcycle.

Yukie sensed this tension from her and prompt up on her motorcycle to see her running up towards her. "What happened? Did you talk to him? What did he say?"

Chiyoko was silent. Yukie noticed her squeezing her two fingers while averting her gaze. That's the gesture telling me that something went wrong. Yukie motioned her to hop on the motorcycle. Chiyoko did so without speech and Yukie handed her the helmet from the back of her motorcycle. Before she rode off on the road again, she said, "I'm going to stop halfway to get us some lunch."

Chiyoko nodded, responding with a muffled "Mmhm..."

                                                           . . .

The two girls arrived in a town not too far from Tokyo. The clouds continue to weep and argue and the teardrops become heavier and accumulating by the second. Taking some shelter would be a wise idea rather than catching a cold along the way back to Ishikawa. They hope the rain would lighten up a bit once they go back on their long journey.

The girls settled near a café where they both ordered a simple sandwich and just cold water to fit in with the current weather. They sat down near two chairs and a round table. The café wasn't as crowded as expected, but more isolated. It was a shock, considering the weather.

"Where is your motorcycle?" Chiyoko asked out of the blue.

"I placed it near an alleyway and chained it to a metal fence; thanks to the extra chain I have."

That explains the weight at the back... Chiyoko thought, giving off a fake smile and chuckle. Yukie can see just by looking at her, Chiyoko was still thinking about what happened back at the apartments. The incident that made her squeeze her fingers and look the other way. Yukie cleared her throat to get Chiyoko's attention. And sure enough, she did.

"Chiyoko, do you mind if I... ask something?"

Chiyoko nodded while taking a sip of her ice-cold water.

"What happened back at the apartments?"

Chiyoko proceeded to bite her bottom lip, avoiding contact again. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything...

"I couldn't do it..." Chiyoko responded in a whisper. "...I left, leaving the package behind. I knocked on the door to his apartment in the hope of getting his attention. If he at least takes the package, I'll be thrilled about that. I'm really sorry, Yukie... All that work just for me to drop a box in front of his door."

She sighed and stared into the clear reflection of her face in the water. The sad expression she's had for a while now since they came here. That moment might just tug into her long-term memory for a long time before she can discard it. That one number may as well haunt her like the word she couldn't spell during her exam.

Was her decision worth making? Or just a remorseful regret in the end?

She felt a weight on the right of her shoulder and looked up to see Yukie with a sad smile imprinted on her face. "You don't need to apologise for your decision. In the end, you decided it was best to leave the package there. I know you as a bright girl, so I'm certain you made the correct decision for both you and your Father."

"I hope so..."

"You did."

Chiyoko was a little surprised by Yukie's positive attitude. She never expected her to give her that push of encouragement. But in the end, she's always been doing that. For her and for everyone else.

Chiyoko smiled, but it faded when she crunched her lips up. "I think... the reason why I did it was that my heart was telling me something. Telling me I wasn't ready to ask questions or even see him yet. I may know who he is, but I can't say the same for him. Does he know who I am? My name? Anything at all? I didn't want to make it awkward for the two of us."

"Maybe you were right to leave just the package there. I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about you, Chiyoko. I mean, who could forget your smile?" She said it with such chirp in her voice.

Chiyoko chuckled as she shook her head. "There's no need to flatter me. But yes, I hope your right..."

The conversation was heart-warming and pleasant, it went surprisingly well.

"By the by..." Yukie began, roaming to a new topic. "Didn't you say you ordered flowers from the bouquet shop next door? What's the occasion?"

Chiyoko scratched the side of her cheek with a peck of a smile. "Well, before we leave, there's someone I want to visit and give them the bouquet. It's been a while, and I wish to bring up a topic with her. The location isn't too far from here. Do you mind if we visit for at least half an hour after we eat?"

"Sure!" Yukie responded before taking a sip. "We can't put the bouquet to waste. Where do you want to visit?"

"My Mother's graveyard..."

[thelastifntdragonrider]

well i just binge watched the entirety of Schitt’s Creek in two days and am an emotional mess at the finale 

[tanakeiart]

I did some shopping today and accidentally spent more than I was going to! I planned to get the water brush, ultramarine blue, and a travel sized notebook, but came back with a small pallet, an extra notebook and all of these small pads of paper!! The pads of paper are so amazing, they’re only like 2″x3″ and there’s twelve pads with different types of paper in each for only $22! I’m so excited to try all of them out! 

[tokkeiko]

casually mass deletes posts from 2013-2016 

[mintchocolateleaves]

Run Down (1/??)

Summary: Hattori Heiji and Hakuba Saguru have never gotten along. And yet, Shinichi, the talented, mysterious, heart transplant patient thinks he can change this. And in a way, he’s right. Medical AU

Notes: So I was feeling the inexplicable need to write a medical AU and here we are. Not sure how long it’ll be but hopefully it won’t be any longer than 15 chapters. I hope you enjoy! xx (IT’S NOT A HAKUHEI FIC)

Thursday morning. 7.21 a.m.

Handover begins in nine minutes and Heiji is not ready for it. Probably because after he’d arrived, signing himself in, he’d spotted the allocation sheet on his way to the changing rooms and noticed Hakuba’s name on the chart. Luckily, they’re not working the same bay today, but still.

Heiji does not so much as want to see the British jerk. And handover is always irritating with Hakuba’s many questions. Luckily, they’re only on a ward with twenty-four patients – four bays, each with six patients – and so, Hakuba’s only got his six patients to ask after.

Good. Back when he’d been training, Heiji had worked in a hostel for one of his placement blocks. There had been forty patients, all of which the staff had been responsible for. With so few doctors there, they’d been stretched thin.

Luckily, Heiji doesn’t have to worry about that here. Despite the ever-growing gap in patient to doctor ratio’s, he’s bagged a good enough position as a junior doctor in a ward that’s busy but not… too much.

“Chill out,” He mutters to himself, the thought of Hakuba riling him up without the man even being present, “it’s not like I gotta talk to him or anything.”

Not that he ever does. The other junior doctor keeps his distance, which is good, because Heiji’s pretty sure that too much exposure to Hakuba will bring worse results than too much radiation. He’s not going to risk himself, thank you very much, because well – he’s not willing to be that stressed.

Heiji pushes himself forwards, in through the hospital doors. His ward is on the first floor, so he’s got to climb one flight of stairs. Sometimes, when he’s feeling particularly lazy after being caught in the morning traffic, he’ll take the elevator. But just the thought of Hakuba looking up as the elevator doors opens, judging them with those beady eyes of his, leaves him gritting his teeth and forcing himself up the stairs.

It’s chilled in the stairwell. Even with his jacket, it’s difficult not to shiver. Pulling his collar around his neck, he takes two steps at a time, trying to quicken his usual stroll up the stairs into faster strides.

It’s not until he’s reached the midpoint of the stairs, reaching over to close the window – seriously, it’s February, why is it even open? – that he hears footsteps. Which, well... okay, it’s not too uncommon for there to be footsteps in the morning. But they’re usually after handover, when everyone on the night shift are heading home.

And patients can’t have visitor until nine a.m. so Heiji is, kind of, only a little bit, confused about who it could be. So of course, he does the only logical thing. He stands and waits.

Seconds later, a man peeks around the corner, climbs down the steps with a small bag in his hands. Except, no, it’s not a bag but a drip, something he’s clipped shut and is carrying with him.

A patient.

Possibly one of Heiji’s six patients he’ll be working with today. Or quite possibly, Hakuba’s patient.

“Morning,” the man says, offering a curt nod. He doesn’t try to hide the drip, or the cannula that’s in his arm, simply passes Heiji with a small nod. The Osakan turns back, gapes, and tries not to think too much about what is going on.

“Are you on Bluebell ward?” He asks. All their hospital wards are named after flowers. Heiji thinks it’s a bit too cute for his liking, but at least it’s not named after people. That’d be almost cringeworthy.

The stranger – styled brown hair with a cowlick at the back, gives him a small grin. He says, “not right now. It would seem I’m in a staircase.”

His eyes gleam. Heiji’s not sure if it’s from his own mischief, or from a fever. It’s probably a mixture of both.

“Right,” he says. “Let me rephrase tha’, are ya a patient in tha’ ward?”

The man doesn’t even try to lie. Unashamed, and almost proud of himself, he offers a smirk. He says, “oh yes. I imagine people will get very nervous about my whereabouts right after you all finish handover.”

Heiji offers a tight smile. So he’s already been identified as one of the staff? And yet here this guy is, essentially telling him he’s breaking out.

“You’re not leaving are ya?” Heiji asks, “because that’s not a very good idea.”

He receives a shake of his head. “Of course not. I’m not leaving the hospital. Just wanting some fresh air. You know?”

Well… that’s a small weight off his shoulders. But still, Heiji can’t really let him wander off. Not with the risk of his health declining. Except, ethically, he can’t force him back onto the ward.

There’s nothing Heiji can do here, and from the relaxed shoulders of this patient, the man knows it.

“Right…” Heiji says. And then: “They’re going to code it. Missing patient, you’re goin’ to make a lot of people extremely worried.”

He receives a smile. “Just let them know that bed 3 is out for a while. Nothing to worry about, alright?”

Heiji says. “I still don’t think this is a good idea, you’re in hospital for a reason.”

“And I’m not leaving the hospital.” Bed 3 says. He runs a hand through his hair – the one that doesn’t have a cannula attached to it. “And don’t worry, I’m not even that sick. I’m fine.”

It’s not until the man’s gone, Heiji rushing up for handover, that it really clicks what he’s said. Bed 3 – That’s in the bay Hakuba’s covering today. Oh God – this is going to be amazing.

“What do you mean he’s a transplant patient?”

Heiji’s practically bursts from where he’s leaning against the wall. Handover is supposed to be a calm introduction to the day. To give him information about the people he’s meant to be caring for, helping nurse back to good health.

And yet, this introduction to their new patient, brought to hospital by the paramedics after collapsing, is anything but.

Across from him, Hakuba levels a glare. He says, “Yes, Bed 3 – Kudo Shinichi – is a transplant patient. What’s so shocking about that? He’s been waiting for the past six months for a heart to become available.”

Heiji’s too disorientated to hear the hidden insult. He blinks, “I… he said he wasn’t that sick.”

Hakuba doesn’t even have time to offer any retaliation. One of the night staff, a nurse – Keiko – shakes her head and says. “Accident and emergency gave him an echocardiogram last night and – well, he’s got mitral regurgitation.”

The Osakan freezes. That’s… that’s the opposite of not being sick. Needing a transplant is bad enough, but there are ways to live with it, medications and therapies that can be used, even temporarily to keep the heart from failing before the transplant becomes available, but having blood flowing the wrong way in the heart?

Not good at all.

“When did you find the time to meet Kudo?” Hakuba asks now. He squints, almost as if he’s about to point out that Heiji’s not working bay one today, staking claim to his patient. “You were almost late today.”

‘Not without good reason’, Heiji thinks to himself. He leans back against the wall he’d previously been leaning against, tries to calm himself.

“I met him on my way up.” He says, “on the staircase.”

Hakuba stills. “You what?”

“Yeah,” Heiji continues, crossing his arms. “we had a short conversation, and then he continued down the staircase.”

The expression on the Brit’s face as he realises he’s lost a patient without even being aware of it, would be a lot more amusing if said patient wasn’t at such a risk. Even now, Heiji feels worry rising in his chest, knowing that there’s a risk of the man collapsing again.

“And you just let him go?”

Heiji narrows his eyes. “What were ya expectin’ Hakuba? I can’t jus’ force him back here, if he wants t’ go, then he goes. Ya know, ethics an’ all.”

Hakuba’s cheeks are flushes. “He’s classed under critical condition!”

“But he’s of sound mind,” Heiji says, “so even if it’s a stupid idea, he wants to leave, he can.”

The two stare at one another for a moment, and finally, Hakuba releases a sigh. He says, “for fucks sake, this guy’s going to be a pain isn’t he?”

Heiji’s certain of it. But also, there’d been a mischief in his eyes that Heiji’s not ever seen in a heart transplant patient before. He’d seen hope, and playfulness, but not quite that.

Kudo almost seems more alive than most patients Heiji has seen in here. Which is strange, seeing as he’s slowly dying without the transplant.

“I don’t know,” Heiji says, “I get th’ feelin’ he’s gonna be pretty interesting, ya know?”

Kudo returns to the ward at about twenty past nine, and Heiji can’t help but realise that he comes back alone. No escorts from those who’d been sent in search of the patient, but rather by himself. He just, lets himself back into the ward, holding a small carrier bag with god-knows-what inside and slowly inches back towards Bay one.

Heiji only half notices him at first, from where he’s too focused on gathering the right equipment for the blood test he needs to take and send down for testing. He’s hand closes around on a tourniquet and freezes as he looks up and catches the man’s eye.

Kudo offers a small wave. “Oh hey. How’s it going?”

Straightening up, Heiji drops the tourniquet in the small box he’d been placing all the necessary instruments inside. All of that’s organised, all he needs now is to grab the sharps bin from the clinical room.

“Hey,” he says, for lack of words. “Your definition of not sick is a little abnormal. Did you know that?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Kudo takes a few steps towards him, peering down at the equipment Heiji’s set out. There’s no information that Kudo could read into on his patient, so Heiji lets him.

“Well, it could be worse.” The man says, as if he’s not waiting for a transplant, a replacement to the heart that’s failing to work properly.

Heiji huffs.

“You’re…” Kudo squints, looking at the badge Heiji wears on his scrubs. “Hattori Heiji. Alright. Nice to meet you Hattori. I think I’m going to return to my bay now – it’s not yours is it?”

Heiji shakes his head, “not today. Your doctor’s probably gonna scold you, ya kno’.”

“I won’t bet against that,” Kudo says, with a short laugh. He says, “if it were anyone I knew who’d done the same thing, I’d be so mad.”

“Hypocrite,” Heiji says, but somehow there’s no irritation behind his words. Damn, even with how aggravating he’s made the morning, Heiji actually likes Kudo Shinichi.

“Oh yes,” Kudo says.

Fifteen minutes later, as he’s labelling the blood sample he’s taken, readying to send it down for testing, he has the misfortune of hearing Hakuba’s drone amongst the bustle of hospital life.

“Kudo-san, it’s not in your best interests to leave the ward while you’re receiving medical treatment, it could delay your recovery.”

And then, Kudo’s voice. He says, “it was very much so within my best interests.”

Heiji smiles to himself, mainly because he can imagine the exasperation on Hakuba’s face as he tries desperately not to let his irritation show to his patient.

“I’m sorry,” Hakuba says, although the lack of insincerity in his voice shows that he’s anything but sorry, “I don’t understand.”

“Are you married?” Kudo says. There is a small pause before the patient continues, “no? Well, see – it’s in my best interests to make sure my wife has a birthday present, hospitalised or not.”

Heiji glances down at his patient’s file, grabs the pen from his pocket and uncaps it. Starting with the date, he writes down his intervention with his patient, recording what he’d done, and the observations he’d made during the interaction with his patient.

“And anyway,” Kudo continues, “if you don’t want your patients to just walk out of the ward, then don’t write the code out of here under the key pad out of here.”

Hakuba’s exasperation is enough that Heiji has to force himself not to cackle. “It’s where?”

Heiji really hopes he’ll be assigned to Kudo’s bay tomorrow.

[eleanor-devil]

Naruto Fanfic - Boruto: Sacrifices - Chap.23, A Ghost From The Past

IMPORTANT: It would be very very appreciated if you reblogged it and left a comment. We get lots of likes/favs but almost no comments, so please everyone, leave a comment, it encourages us to continue.

Written by my friend @mirage-05

Cover by @eleanor-devil

prologue, chap.1, chap.2, chap.3, chap.4, chap.5, chap.6, chap.7, chap.8, chap.9, chap.10, chap.11, chap.12, chap.13, chap.14, chap.15, chap.16, chap.17, chap.18, chap.19, chap.20, chap.21, chap.22, chap.23, chap.24

For more Sacrifices stuff, click on this link

Chapter 23 - A Ghost From The Past

The day started relatively uneventful in Konoha. And in all truth, there weren't any reasons why it shouldn't be. The villagers were going through their usual daily routine. The biggest event had been the disappearance of one of the Sound prisoners who were under arrest, but his charred remains were found the next day in the woods and... it wasn't honestly investigated to the core. No one was surprised or saddened to hear the news. Good riddance. So while he was overlooking a bunch of excited Sarutobi kids, Ichiro didn't expect anything to happen. It was more showing off than overlooking - the kids were awed by his unorthodox weapon and skillful using of it. True, for the ordinary ninja the punji stakes were insufficient at best and laughable at worst, but for an expert - like him - they were pretty efficient for ambushing and information gathering purposes. This wasn't exactly a planned session, the children had found him and demanded (or rather, pestered) him to stay witht hem for a while, and even though this was his day off, he had decided to humor them. So Ichiro didn't really expect anything to happen that day. And it wasn't until half an hour into them being together that something happened.

He didn't hear at first the swoosh of a kunai slicing through the air until one of the children squealed and pointed to somewhere behind him. Instinct that was drilled into him since he was a genin made the young boy immediately turn on his heels and with a quick slash of his stake, he batted the weapon away right out of the air. What was that? Were they under attack? Or was this just someone's idiotic idea for a spar? He didn't really have time to think. He just saw a glint of metal through the thin sunlight before he called out to the children. "Huddle together!" Obviously scared, they did as they were told, and the teen rushed in front of them to shield them from the barrage of shurikens. The blades stuck themselves on the ground he was standing a minute ago. Damn, what was going on...? He turned around to see a hooded, masked figure emerging from the trees and standing there, just staring at him... or so he thought, from his position. "Keiko," he told one of the children. "Go warn Konohamaru-san." Not that he couldn't take on this one enemy alone but with the children... "But I'm scared..." "Hey, there is no need to be," the black haired boy glanced half back with a grin. "I'll cover for you, okay?" The boy seemed reassured by that - he quickly nodded a couple of times before rushing off. The figure just kept looking at Ichiro... and then, in one quick move, he pulled out two katanas from the sheaths on his back, holding them in an attack position. The Sarutobi raised his stake in response, and felt an almost mocking gaze beneath the mask. Then the man took a step forward. Ichiro was waiting just for that to start his show. With his smirk growing smug, he called on his chakra to activate the first trap, yelling at the children to get out of the way in the meantime. The soil beneath the assailant's feet immediately opened up, revealing the spikes beneath it. The man was clever, he managed to use chakra to stand an inch above the punji - but he wasn't prepared for the side wall that snapped close a second later. The man disappeared in a puff of smoke. Classic. The Sarutobi didn't lose a second and wheeled around to meet the katana that was coming for his head - encasing his stake with chakra to strengthen it. He managed to push back the man, but the bamboo had a tiny cut on where his control was likely the weakest. Ichiro didn't waste any time. "Doton!" he called, bringing two fingers in front of his face before slamming his hand on the ground. "Doryu Taiga!" The ground beneath them suddenly became like mud and started rolling back and forth, creating an unstable standing place. Not losing any time, the teen used his chakra to call forth more stakes hidden in the ground, directing it to the enemy. But suddenly... without any warning at all, he felt something bite him at the base of his neck, from behind. It didn't take long. One minute, he was standing there... and the next, his consciousness was slipping away, making him wobbly. He didn't even notice he hit the ground. ... The Hokage's office, on the other hand, was going through a very bustling day. "God damnit, here's another report," Shikamaru pretty much growled in between his teeth as he took a look at the said report, and then threw it on Naruto's desk. "That's the third case of mass child kidnapping today! What the hell is going on?!" "Any eye witness testimonies?" Naruto asked, tense, ready to jump out of his seat any minute. "Yes, actually. This Sarutobi boy, Ichiro... apparently he fought the assailant." "And...?" "Not much of a lead I'm afraid. Hooded and masked figure... really tall, quite capable in kenjutsu. That was all he could see before he was taken down." "Taken down? How?" "No details... no cuts or anything, but he's being checked for poisons in the hospital." The blond thought about it for a minute, brows furrowed, and then got to his feet. "Alright. I'll let Naruto know." The shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. ... With the delicate situation at hand, teams were dispatched to help look for the children. After a quick roundabout around the village, Boruto and Sarada decided to split up to cover more area. Yeah, the assailant was armed, and if he had to be honest the blond was amused to find out that Sarutobi Ichiro had fought this man and lost (guilty as he technically felt aout it)... But they were experienced and the Uzumaki had full trust in himself and his teammate if it came down to a face-off. That made his thoughts wander momentarily to the field trip in Kirigakure... that time when they fought a 'childish brawl' with jounin level ninjas... and they had faced all kinds of difficulties but still overcame their opponents in the end... the three of them... from that day on, Boruto had always felt a degree of respect towards Sarada and Mitsuki. So he had no- What was that? He came to a sudden halt as his keen eyes caught a movement near the edge of the trees, his breathing accelarating. But... that... it wasn't even possible... That couldn't be... him... Was he just seeing Mitsuki now as a trick of his mind, just because he thought of the field trip? The moment Boruto blinked, no one stood in the place where he just saw his best friend. ... That had been close. He should've been more careful while they carried out the mission. Log had not seen the Uzumaki boy... not in a very long time, anyway. He still remembered it clearly, the one memory he shared with Mitsuki of his now best friend... that the younger wouldn't remember. [Flashback] "And he has to have his lunch at 12.00 pm sharp. Not later, so don't get yourself cooped up in that lab Orochimaru-sama, because if I get the impression that this boy was malnourished when I get back..." Log could see that Karin's rant was starting to get on his creator's nerves - it was apparent in the way that the sannin's eye had begun to twitch - which was actually something fun to watch, but oh well. Apparently, Suigetsu and Juugo had sensed the danger too. "Okay we're late already, let's get going." the white haired man said urgently. "Take her out of my sight." Orochimaru said, all in all in a calm manner, with the tiniest bit of threat. "That's not the last you hear from me! You should also..." "Do you have a death wish??" Suigetsu hissed at the redhead as the two men practically dragged her outside, and the older clone fell behind to them, choosing to go his own way from on top of the trees to put as much of a distance between himself and their antiques without losing sight of them. ... The walk around the forest was long and soon his three companions had to stop for a pause. Suigetsu pretty much crumbled to his legs as soon as they came to a stop. "Gee woman, what did you pack in my bag?! It's heavy as hell!" he complained as he took the bag and threw it to the floor. "Ow!" they heard from the bag. The Taka eyed each other. "Did... your bag just talk...?" asked Juugo carefully to make sure he didn't sound illogical. At this Suigetsu opened the bag. "What the?!" ...and out popped Mitsuki, rubbing his head with a hand while looking up at him, his eyes a little teared up, his lips pushing out in a pout. Log was down beside them the next second. Grabbing a fistful of the Hozuki's clother, he lifted him slightly in the air, a threatening look in his eyes. "Did you just dare to throw my brother on the floor?!" Karin, on the other hand, immediately rushed forward to get to the toddler. She brought him up in a hug, cooing. "Aw, I'm sorry, Mitsuki-kun, does stupid Suigetsu hurt you too much?" "How was I supposed to know I was carrying a toddler in my bag??" the man asked unbelievably. But one look from Karin made him shut up and cross his arms. Mitsuki sniffed a little before wiping away the tears and looking at Karin. "I'm 'kay" he said in his still not clearly understandable baby voice. "How did you get into the bag?" Juugo asked, approaching them and slightly leaning forward, his hands on his knees. "Does Orochimaru-sama even know?" Mitsuki looked at Juugo with his big round eyes. "Daddy knows, I say bye." Suigetsu scoffed. "So the snake man knew we were bringing his kid with us and choose to not say. Smooth, real smooth... so much for a free day..." Mitsuki gave a huge smile to him. "No worry. I stay good." "Yeah sure, kid, and I'm fire resistant." The child's eyes widened at that, curiosity taking over his childish features, and Suigetsu felt himself sweating a little. "Don't even think about it." he warned the toddler. And of course... the surprises of the day were far from over. ... At about midday after they had fed the toodler and put him to sleep... or so they had thought... "WHERE IS THAT KID?!" yelled Suigetsu as he looked everywhere, especially at the place they had left him sleeping. "Good lord, what are we even gonna tell Orochimaru-sama?" Karin was in full panic mode. Juugo was trying to keep his calm by the sound of it. "Will you two calm down? We will scatter and cover more area." Log, however, was already on trail. He had noticed Mitsuki quickly sneaking from his place when the Taka wasn't looking his way. Some caretakers, he thought, rolling his eyes. Mitsuki was in his line of sight. The older clone had decided to give him space unless something dire happened, because... the toddler seemed to be enjoying himself. He was stumbling across the leaves, following a white snake. "Wait!" he giggled. "Wait wittle snake!" As his brother waddled his way around after the snake, Log immediately noticed that they were no longer alone - which the three year old too noticed when he heard someone screaming loudly right in front of him. "Waaah, get away fwom me, snake!" Both toddlers weren't looking where they were going... and before they knew it, they crashed into each other, both tumbling to the floor. The little blond toddler seemed to be scared, rubbing his head with a little, chubby hand... looking at Mitsuki, he started crying... loud. "Boruto! Boruto where are you sweetie??" came a voice not too far from them, and Log hid himself behind the tree trunk, only sneaking glances now. "Mammaaaaaa...!" the blond boy cried in between tears. What happened next was curious and amusing. Mitsuki, who had been rather calm and quiet until then, just got up and pushed the other toddler - which made him stop crying and gape up at the blue haired. "Baka." Mitsuki said simply, and Log could only just imagine him pouting. He almost laughed. Was his brother... jealous? The blond pouted as well. "No. You baka." "No, you!" "You!" "You scawe wittle snake!" "You push me!" And they were at it - struggling on the forest floor. Maybe he should step in now (although he had to admit, he was having fun) but... two people were quicker than him. Log's eyes widened. "Hey hey hey, easy," a blond man picked Mitsuki up. Someone he had only seen in a photo... "What the..." The man turned his brother so that he was facing him now, although the toddler didn't notice Log - which was good. Apparently curious, the child raised a hand and touched the man's cheek. "Who are you little one? Where are your parents?" "No mamma... Daddy far..." Before the man could say anything more, Mitsuki leaned forward a little more and this time, touched the man's cheeks with his two hands. "Why you have whiskers?" he asked seriously, and then... squeezed the man's cheeks a little... The man laughed at that, and now the blue haired toddler was smiling too. "Easy there, will you?" the man said, his tone soft. "Why don't you tell us your name? My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and this is my wife Hinata and our son Boruto." Hinata gave the little one a warm smile and waved her free hand. "Hi there, sweetie." "Hi." the toddler turned to her with a smile. "My name's..." As always, Mitsuki was stumbling on his own name. "Mi...Mit..." he ended up pouting more. Boruto giggled. "Baka." "Boruto, that's not a very nice thing to say." his mother slightly chastized him. "Bobo." Mitsuki said, sounding a little... annoyed. "Baka Bobo." "Mikki." the blond toddler said in a victorious tone, and stuck out his tongue to him, obviously happy that he found a nickname as well. "Baka Mikki." he emphasized. With a humph, the toddlers turned their back at each other. "Alright, um... Mikki," Uzumaki Naruto said, making the toddler look up at him again. "Why don't we go look for your father then?" That was Log's cue to leave. He would just have to find a way to get Mitsuki away from them... [End of Flashback] The older clone was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed a small, white snake gazing up at him, almost expectantly. This was the very same snake he had sent all these years ago to direct his baby brother back home when the Taka managed to get the Uzumakis away from Mitsuki for a moment. From that moment on, it had been the younger's trusted companion and means of communication, much more than a pet. Koburo. So the mission was complete. Nodding once to the snake, Log left his post and disappeared into the woods. ... It wasn't until sunset that there were some news. Kakashi had just finished rounding the perimeter a mile out of town when he noticed Pakkun running up to him. "Kakashi, there are news!" The white haired man stopped himself. "Tell me." "We have an incoming report from the Inuzuka ninken. The children are found, not too far from here actually." The look in the man's eyes hardened. "Show me the way." And so they took off, fast. "Is the Hokage notified?" "I believe he will be there before us." It indeed wasn't too long before they reached  a clearing in the woods... a place just almost out of the borders of Konoha's forest. The children were there, huddled together under the shadows of large oak treas and a towering hill on the other side, creating some set of a natural border. The children were obviously scared, so much so that they couldn't even move an inch... but they were unharmed. And written on the stone just behind them, in what seemed to be blood (although of course it couldn't be, the ninken would know)... were the words... Kakashi frowned thoughtfully as he read them. "This was the last warning..." ... "Oooh man... I can't believe we made it here late." "Oh well... it's not that the staff minds, y'know." Sarada's tone was lighthearted as she and Boruto walked down the hospital halls. "And look it on the bright side... The children are found, and we made up that tribute for Mitsuki..." she smiled a little. "...and a lot of people contributed for that, too." Boruto didn't say anything for a minute, although he had a smile playing on his lips, too. "Well... I guess you are right. Today wasn't exactly..." he came to a stop as they reached their friend's room and noticed that they weren't alone. "Sumire?" The purple haired girl was startled a little when she heard the door slide open and the two friends walked in. "Oh... good evening, Boruto-kun... Sarada-chan..." "Good evening," the Uchiha greeted her back pleasantly. "How nice to see a friendly face here." "Oh... well, I thought he would like some company..." Sumire said with a small and gentle smile as she looked at Mitsuki. "And I figured it would be nice to have a change of flowers." She gestured to the small vase on the bedside table and there were indeed a new set of flowers in it... lilies. "That's very nice of you. Thanks..." "I'm sure he would've appreciated it..." the blond sighed as he took a seat next to the bed, putting his arms on the back of the chair. "...if he was awake, that is." Sumire's face fell a little with that too. "It's been long... isn't it?" Sarada sighed herself as she took the other seat and held onto her friend's hand. "Two weeks, to be exact. Mama said his wounds are healing, but... nothing gives away that he would wake up anytime soon..." "He will... he came this far, I have no doubts that he'll be back in no time..." the purple haired girl said encouragingly, and the smile on her face turned thoughtful. "I know that much from the time we fought..." That was right, Boruto thought as he looked up at the former class rep, they shared a memory with her about his best friend... "Why don't you stay for a little more, Sumire?" he asked lightly. "You see... we're trying not to leave him alone for too long..." "Ah." the girl was clearly surprised, but that expression didn't linger. "Sure... I would love that." Together, the three of them sat in silence for a minute. "I heard that you guys put up a tribute to honor him." Sumire said softly. "Oh. Yeah..." the Uzumaki seemed to brighten a little. "Well, it was Himawari's idea really. And you should see her... she is literally knocking on every door, demanding for a paper crane to make him feel better." He blond smiled a little at the thought of his younger sister. "A paper crane?" "Yep." the black haired girl nodded. "This crane god, or goddess..." "It's a mythical animal, Sarada." "Well yeah, I can't keep the entire story in my head unlike you. But anyways... it's said that if you collect enough paper cranes of various colorful origami papers... The crane will grant you one wish." "In this case... to have him back..." Sumire concluded, understanding. The friends didn't have to say anything to confirm... Boruto sighed once again, the look in his eyes absent-minded. "When are you coming back man...?" Of course that was a stupid question... but that had just been Boruto's inner wish speaking... "I... I just wish you give us some sign... I don't know,anything would do really..." The Uchiha kept on, her tone a little bitter, she just wished... no, she needed, they all needed this, to be a team again... to again form the proper, one and only team Konohamaru... ... He wasn't sure for how long he had been walking. Yet the blue haired boy kept wandering aimlessly around this strange place... where was he even? It was cloudy, literally many clouds covering his path, he couldn't see where he was walking, he was even afraid of... falling? Although he hadn't seen any end of the path... how long had he been there?? He couldn't remember... A black soul kept surrounding him, circling around him as he continued to walk and it clearly wasn't there to help him... from time to time, the soul would whisper in his ears. "You are not wanted..." there it was, again... "No one loves you, you're just a dead beat to everyone, a burden..." The child closed his eyes tightly and cupped his hands to his ears, as if that would stop the voice... He had tried it before, it was to no avail... But still, he had to try again. He couldn't bear to hear the enimosity in it. He doubted anyone could... He tried to take a couple more steps forward, to just... get away... maybe he could lose the entity... "You only have me now," the voice resounded, a merciless glee in it. "Just look at you... you're fading from existence... from the memories of those you... 'cherish'..." There was a cold and ironic emphasis on the last word. And to the child's horror and surprise, when he looked at himself, his body was starting to become transparent... it wasn't much, but... just like the voice had said, he was fading from existence... literally... He was scared... very much... there was no one there to help him... He just started to run, run... and suddenly, in the middle of his escape attempt... he was blinded by a strong light. The child covered his eyes and stopped in his tracks. Where was he now...? When he dared to open his eyes again... he frowned slightly in confusion. There stood a man a few feet away from him... long black hair and... white eyes... as white as the... place surrounding them, but somehow, not as terrifying... A faint glow in them gave the boy the illusion that he was - or used to be - a good person... "Who... are you...?" he managed to ask, and he was astounded for a moment how... distant and echoing his voice sounded. Was even his voice leaving him...? That thought sent a chill down his spine. The man knelt down in front of the child and put on a warm, calming smile... it was almost soothing for the boy, like he was... safe...? "I am Hyuuga Neji." the man answered as he held out his hand towards him. "I was sent here to help you." He blinked. To... help him...? How...? "...are you like the voice...?" Neji looked confused for a momnent. "The voice?" The child nodded. "It... keeps telling me that I am nothing... That... I'm all alone..." he shivered. The confused look was still there... but only for a moment before Neji started to understand what the child meant, and his gaze took on a thoughtful and sad quality. "No. No, I'm not like that voice at all." he said softly, and smiled a bit at the doubtful look on the blue haired boy's face. "Because I happen to be sent here by someone I value... and someone who holds you very dear to himself." "I-I... what...?" After so much time spent with that black entity constantly degrading him... this was such a foreign and stunning concept, so much so that it almost gave him physical pain... With his hand still held out towards the child, Neji tilted his head slightly to a side. "Yes, he cares very much about you and wants to see you again." Why...? He wanted to ask that... but the words wouldn't form in his mouth... what was he supposed to do? This person didn't look mean or bad like the black entity... "How can I... see that person again...?" Maybe, just maybe there really was someone who wanted to be with him. "You can come with me." "Will you take me to him...?" Neji shook his head. "No... but I can lead you to someone who can help you see him again." "I..." he looked at the hand for a minute, trying to make up his mind. He... needed to see that person... right? To justify it with his own eyes, to truly feel likke he was needed... "Okay," he mumbled finally, taking the hand. And to his surprise, either the contact or his determination... made his form a little more visible, a little more solid, which made him gasp slightly. Neji's smile intensified as he stood up but never let go of the child's hand as he lead him towards the other side of the light. "What is your name?" The child pondered on it... what was his name...? He seemed to have forgotten... at least he couldn't remember it clearly but strangely, there was a word resonating in his head constantly... maybe that was his name? "M... Mitsuki..." "Pleased to meed you." came the smooth voice of the man. "It's a beautiful name." "It is?" Behind his surprised tone... Mitsuki... was also a little embarrassed... He didn't even remember what his 'name' meant... Surely it would have meant something to... whoever that named him. "Yes indeed. It means full moon." The reassuring smile was still there. "And a full moon always creates a beautiful scenery." "O-oh..." he felt his cheeks burn lightly and something in his chest pumping fast... what was that feeling? But now he got curious as he looked back at Neji. "What... does your name mean? Does it create beautiful scenery too...?" The man let out a small chuckle as he thought about it. "Not exactly, my name's meaning isn't particularly... nice as yours. It means screw." Mitsuki tilted his head. Why would someone's name mean screw...? "But the person who wants to see you again... his name is connected to mine, so I guess that yes, my name, in the end, created something beautiful." The boy blinked. "Does his name mean screw too?" That actually caused Neji to laugh out loud, his voice echoing... and the child's cheeks burned even more. Was it ridiculous, what he said? "No, no it doesn't mean screw," the man said finally. "It means bolt... like a lightning bolt..." "A lightning..." he was trying, hard... to find the name associated with this meaning, but his mind had turned empty all of a sudden. "What's a lightning...?" "Mmm... well, let's see..." Neji looked thoughtful for a moment. "It's when energy gathers in a cloud and then lightning comes out from the clouds to release that energy. They usually have this shape." He tried to show Mitsuki how the lightning looked like by drawing it invisibly in the air. With the vaguely drawn figure in the air... suddenly it felt to the boy like the word... l-lightning... was so cold... so terrifying... so much so that a shiver went through his spine. He was confused... why would a name associated with a person who was supposedly his... friend, was it...? make him feel so uneasy...? His heart tugged unpleasantly, an unwelcome ad sudden pain. "Aw...!" he mumbled as he brought a hand over his chest, face crumpled in pain, actually remembering some kind of pain somehow, associated with that word, lightning... That didn't go unnoticed by Neji, he didn't know why the child had suddenly become so uneasy and with a clearly terrified expression in his features. "Did you remember something...?" It was all he could guess, souls couldn't really... feel something like they were alive but they could feel attached to a feeling because of memories... "I... I d-don't know... i-it hurts... l-lightning... I..." For a moment, the Hyuuga didn't know what to say as the child before him was rendered silent. Continuing with this topic... clearly didn't seem like a good idea... it was never easy to see a spirit in distress... nonetheless, a young spirit such as this... "Can you remember... anything that makes you feel better? Safe...?" he asked carefully, trying hard not to scare Mitsuki more. "B-birds..." the child whispered, not knowing where that word came from... He looked up at Neji with his big, scared golden eyes. "I... like birds..." The man tilted his head. "Birds huh? I do like birds myself, you know... it's a mythical bird but my favorite is the phoenix." Mitsuki blinked... he couldn't remember if he had heard of it. "P... hoenix...?" "Yes, it's a bird of fire, a very beautiful one that symbolizes rebirth." "R-rebirth?" the child stammered on the word, for some reason it sounded so hopeful... as much as he dared to hope, of course. "Indeed." Neji said with a gentle smile. "There is a myth surrounding the phoenix that whenever it reaches the end of a cycle... it will be enveloped in flames, only to be reborn from its ashes. So you see... it's an immortal bird." They had not been walking for too long, but Neji could feel that they were nearing their destination. So he stopped in his tracks and looked back at the boy, who in returned looked at him, befuddled. Why had they stopped? "We are almost here to see the person who wants to see you. Are you ready to go?" Mitsuki was silent for a bit. "I... I can be a phoenix...?" "Anyone can be, that all depends on them and their final decision." The child thought about it for a moment... he didn't know what his final decision would be yet... he was still confused and scared about many things... There was still so much he didn't understand at all... Maybe this person could truly help...? He let out his breath slowly, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them. "I'm ready." he said in a decisive tone. ... That was when it happened... As if hearing their prayers, their voices, their wishes... Boruto and Sarada felt a soft pressure on their hands and the beeps of the heart machine seemed to accelerate in speed. "W-what...?" the blond murmured as he looked at the machine, feeling the pressure on his hand. The girls practically jumped to their feet. Sarada felt her pulse quickening as she carefully looked at Mitsuki's face, and gasped. "Boruto!" she cried out, and in that one word was reflected relief, happiness, so many positive feelings... Glancing at his friend, Boruto gasped himself when he saw the younger boy's eyelashes fluttered a little, and he barely saw a flicker of gold beneath them. "Sarada, we have to inform your mom!" "On it!" Sumire said quickly as she rushed out of the door. The blond's eyes were only on his best friend as he leaned a little over him. "Mitsuki...? Mitsuki, can you hear me??" "Come on... I knew you can do it..." Sarada was practically in tears, half-smiling in between them. "We are here... we are all waiting for you to come back..." And they continued to try and get some reaction from him... excited beyond belief... they weren't getting one but his eyes were definitely open... even if it was just a little... It didn't take too long before Sakura came hurrying in, Sumire close behind her. "Boruto, Sarada, step aside please!" the woman said as she lit a small lantern and approached the bed. She quickly did the basic check-up, controlling the boy's vitals, his eyes were still open, just a slit... But just when Sakura was about to finish the control, they were closed again. His signs, however, while there wasn't any big changes... the pink haired medic realized, with a slight relief, that he was... breathing a little more easily... "That's definitely an improvement..." she whispered to herself with a soft smile, and her eyes drifted to the window. Where she saw a big, brilliant full-moon sending its soft rays into the room. "W-well aunt...?" Boruto hesitantly asked, hope filling his voice. The girls were equally anxious. Sakura sighed once again before turning to the children. "He is not awake..." Hope left the kids' eyes as they looked down. "But... he is definitely healing. His breathing is much better, we can remove the mask and change it for the breathing tube." "We... we were so sure..." Boruto mumbled as his gaze once again drifted to his friend, sadness clear in his eyes. "We felt him squeezing our hands..." Sarada mumbled. "Well... those happen when his body starts healing, but his mind takes a while to come back," Sakura tried to explain, smiling softly and encouragingly to the children. "But don't you lose heart... This was an important first step." She touched the children's shoulders before pulling them into a hug. She rubbed their heads before turning around to face Mitsuki.... and the moon... 'Please bring him back...'