'It is December 20th... towards the end of the 5th year of the Taisho era...'
Footsteps paced down the hallway. The person stopped right in front of a door and peered in through the crack. He watched the girl lying down on the bed, her face covered with a bandaged arm.
'About three years ago, Fujieda Ayame joined our team... since then, nothing has been the same for the Tai Kouma Butai...'
"Kazuma," Yoneda uttered, patting his friend on the shoulder, "Hanakoji wants to see us downstairs. Let's go." Yoneda saw that he wasn't going to move, so he went for the door. "We'll wait for you, so hurry up."
"Hai..." As soon as the door closed, Kazuma walked over to the bed and knelt down at the side. "Ayame-kun..." he said, reaching for her hand. It flinched at his touch and smacked him away. He stood up in alarm, realizing that she was having nightmares again. "It's me. Open your eyes."
"Tai...sa..." she stammered, looking up at him with blurred eyes. She could still feel the fire against her skin, the screaming... and the red masked men surrounding her. "They won't leave me alone."
"I know," he said, taking her hand, "But you've got to fight them. You can't let them win. You just can't. No matter what happens, I won't let them take you away."
"Taisa," She weakly shook her head. "You don't have to protect me... Fight for what you really love... and let me..."
Her voice trailed off as he squeezed her hand. The two of them stared at each other, with weary and tired faces from battle. But the battles had stopped. The Tai Kouma Butai was on suspension, as the key blame for the destruction in Ginza - which had been covered up. And the demons had been silenced by the cold conditions, without any real guarantee of when they would return. For the first time, Tokyo was at peace... but for Ayame, for Kazuma... It wasn't. The war was still going on in their minds.
"Taisa..." Ayame gasped as he hovered over her with a strained expression. Blinking, she wasn't sure what he was doing until he closed his eyes and started to lean towards her. 'Sonna...!' But on instinct, Ayame felt her eyes become heavy as she reached for him.
"ERHEM!" Yoneda stood in the doorway, crossing his arms. Their eyes flickered open, their lips barely touching - as though they both woke from a dream. "Kazuma, downstairs NOW!" Yoneda said, grabbing the stunned man by the arm and pulling him out of the room.
"W-What was I doing..." Ayame heard him say out in the hall, "What in the world came over me...?"
'What did happen??!' she cried, staring up in the ceiling. Now she thought about Kazuma's family back home in Sendai - his kind wife, his cute daughter. 'What have done??!' Covering her face with her arm again, she sulked in her mistakes, whatever they were, to have caused such confusion in her heart and the possibilities of a family's ruin.
Today, she hadn't the will to get up from bed and been there all morning. It had been a week since they started to stay at Hanakoji's estate, as someplace they could hide during the intermission of war. But it pained her to think that they, or rather 'she', were to bring danger to Hanakoji as well.
'Everything just keeps getting worse... When I close my eyes and when I'm awake... Is there no end?'
Silence then filled the world. She rather liked it this way. It prolonged this so-called peace and made it appear more real. But even silence didn't last. All of a sudden, she heard the most maddening music in the air - as it someone was jumping on the piano purposely in order to cause a disturbance. 'Who in the world...!?' she thought, sitting up and listening to this awful sound, 'It's terrible!!'
Grabbing her robe, she stormed down the hallway and followed the horrid noise. She wringed her hands in front of her, ready for the player's neck. But when she stopped in the door to the parlor, she saw who it was and nearly fell over.
'Yamazaki-shousa...!' she cried inwardly, eyes wide and staring at the back of his head. She couldn't move or say anything. Just a minute ago, she had been wishing the world would end because she had kissed a married man, now...
Now, time had stopped.
The skillful fingers slowed and began to play softer; a note at a time... then a cord... until it came together and a simple song was made. Ayame didn't have to say a word; he knew she was there. And now he was playing their song.
'He's really here...!' she thought, stumbling forward - trying to come closer to him. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't know what to say as she reached out her hand. She stopped, still afraid that the sweet song would end if she did interrupt. Standing behind him with her hands at her side, Ayame watched and waited with a heavy heart.
"Ayame, are you just going to stay there?" he finally said, as his hands left the keys, "I've been waiting to see you all morning. But, they kept telling me you didn't want to get out of bed. You won't believe how long it took me to find out you guys went here. I spend the last week or so looking around Teito for you."
"Sumimasen..." was all she could muster.
He dropped his head and sighed. He then turned around and looked up at the troubled face. "Ayame... I thought you'd be happy to see me. What's wrong?"
She just stared back, still astonished to speak. `He's really here!'
Not satisfied by this reaction, Yamazaki moved closer and took hold of her hands. "I'm sorry… You had to go through all that and I wasn't there. I should've been, but I had some things to figure out. I still haven't solved everything, but I just couldn't go on thinking... You're the only reason I..."
Ayame wondered why he suddenly stopped as she strained to hear more. But he was releasing her hands and moving away. Slowly she turned around and saw that there were others in the room.
"Yamazaki," Kazuma uttered. He seemed very embarrassed from walking in on them. "I just heard from Hanakoji-hakushaku that you arrived here... I'm so glad you decided to join back with the team."
"Taisa, as much as I'm glad to see all of you again, I'm not here to rejoin the team. I heard about what happened and I felt concerned. Still, I'm not here to fight. I only came back for Ayame."
"I see... I'm still glad you're back with us. We missed you very much, Ayame especially."
Yamazaki's eyes narrowed somewhat as he looked from Kazuma to Ayame. "Then why doesn't she say so? She's giving me the cold treatment and barely said a word thus far. I wonder if coming back here was a good idea after all, Taisa."
"D-Datte..." Ayame stammered, fretfully trying to come up with a reason. But she hadn't figured it out herself. "It's nothing..."
"Hmmm..." Yamazaki's eyes were still narrowed at her. But, he shrugged it off and forced a grin over towards the quiet Yoneda. "I bet you know what's going on here, Jiji!"
"Do I? I wish I would forget..." Yoneda grumbled. He then returned the grin to his old comrade, trying to move onto a more comfortable subject. "When you feel up to it - why don't you meet me in the kitchen. We'll have a bottle to celebrate your return."
"First things first," Hanakoji said, stepping forward, "Before we have a celebration, I need to speak with Shinnosuke-kun in private."
"We'll leave you alone then," Yoneda said, taking Ayame by the arm and leading her out the room, "We'll be waiting downstairs!"
Ayame looked over her shoulder at Yamazaki, feeling guilty for not welcoming him the way she wanted to. All the joy she had in seeing him again was waiting to burst out. 'Yatta! He's back!' she happily thought, heading to her room to change.
She stopped as Kazuma passed in front of her. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but then he went on his way. Feeling guilty again, Ayame stumbled into her room and shut the door.
* * * * * * * * *
"I'm really glad you came back." Hanakoji said, sitting across from the young man and giving him a genuine smile, "You were always someone I had great confidence in. I knew you couldn't stay away for
long."
"Hakushaku," Yamazaki replied, "You heard what I said about not being here to fight... I just came for..."
"I know, I know... Still, I have wanted to talk to you about something important."
"Oh??"
"We've been considering the proposal to create a league of spirit-powered soldiers who could fight the demons. We're to make it an international army, so we need an ambassador to travel around the world and start looking for our soldiers. I think the one who should go is you, Shinnosuke-kun."
"H-Honto desu ka?" he blurted out, "O-Ore? You want me to go..."
Hanakoji nodded. "You've always asked to be transferred away, to anywhere in the world... I can't think of anyone else more eager to do this job."
"You bet I am..." he said happily. But his tone suddenly changed. "But... what about Ayame?"
The old guy shrugged, a little amused by this concern. 'It must be great to be young and in love.' he thought. "Shinnosuke-kun, no problem. You could take her with you if you like."
"She wouldn't want to come..." Yamazaki sighed, leaning his arm onto the piano, "She loves Teito with all her heart; there's no way she would leave it... even if I did ask her."
"Don't you think she'd wait for you?"
"I don't want to put any pressure on her..."
Hanakoji stood and put his hand on his shoulders. "Think about this, Shinnosuke-kun. This is what you've always wanted. It's a grand opportunity."
"I know... Thank you for your offer, Hakushaku." Yamazaki replied, his shoulders caved, "But could I have more time to think about it...?"
"I understand. It's a difficult decision to make. But the offer will be waiting for you. I won't hand it to anyone else."
Yamazaki smiled up at Hanakoji and thanked him a couple more times. After shaking his hand, the two of them left the room to meet up with the others. 'It's a decision I can't make... As long as Ayame wants to stay in Teito, that's where I have to be...'
* * * * * * * * * * *
Downstairs, Yoneda and Kazuma were having a little party of drinks. Hanakoji and Yamazaki joined them, but Ayame still hasn't come down yet. "What's taking her so long??" Yamazaki grumbled, leaning his
chin onto the table.
"Yare yare," Yoneda replied, going to make sure that his cup was filled to the brim - even though Yamazaki had barely taken a sip. "You know girls - they take so much time to get ready."
Kazuma looked a little ill at the table and Yamazaki became concerned. "Taisa, what's the matter?? Did you have some bad sake??"
"N-No..." The weary man kept flipping through photographs of his daughter, "It's nothing to worry about, Yamazaki." He paused to hold his head in his hands then gulped down the glass in front of him. "I'm just so glad you're here!"
"Ore mo." Yamazakit uttered, still lost to what was going on, "I'm going to go check on Ayame... Shitsureishimasu." He got up from the table and left the room.
"YAMAZAKI!!" Yoneda yelled after him, "FINISH YOUR DRINK, WILL YOU!!"
Hanakoji swayed his head back and forth and smiled. "It must be wonderful to be young and in love~!" Kazuma just gulped down Yamazaki's glass, while Yoneda stared at Hanakoji as if he was crazy.
Just then, the doors flew open and an old guy, with one of the servants trying to stop him, entered the room. "Where is that Yamazaki??!!!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Ayame paced in her room, still in her bathrobe with her hair down - still looking like she had just rolled out of bed. 'I should hurry up and get down there... they must be wondering about me... But I...' She stopped at the mirror, her face beaming with happiness. 'He's back! Yamazaki-shousa is back!!'
She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold in all this excitement. Ever since the moment she saw him, all her fears about the demons, the military, and the nightmares had disappeared and been replaced by thoughts of him and what should she do. As confusing as this situation was, she preferred it to the other problems any day.
As she went over what she should say inside her head, Yamazaki entered the room and walked over to her, giving her the suspicious eye. "What the heck are you doing? People are waiting for you downstairs."
"KYAAA!!" Ayame stumbled backwards in surprise. "S-Shousaa!!"
"So, you do remember who I am??" he said while walking towards her, "If I knew this is how you'd react - hiding yourself in your room and looking like you're on medication - I wouldn't have come."
These words had a backwards effect on Ayame, who sparkled a smile and couldn't stop giggling. 'The way he would be like this... I missed it so much...'
"Ayame," Yamazaki uttered, going to sit down on the edge of the bed, "Tell me the truth. Are you that disgusted to see me again?"
"You've misunderstood!" she gasped, cupping his face with both hands, "Right now, I'm so happy. I guess too happy... I want to tell you how much I've..."
Ayame decided to skip more stumbling words and cut to the chase. As she leaned closer and reached for him, she tried to remember when their last kiss was. Of course she could remember her last kiss - this morning - and she wanted to erase it from her mind. 'It didn't happen!!' she yelled at herself, still reaching for Yamazaki, wishing he'd make her forget about that terrible incident.
Suddenly the door flew open. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE??!" yelled the old man. Yamazaki and Ayame both backed away from each other and stared at the stranger, who started to wave his cane angrily. "This is the house of a respectable count - NOT a harem, dammit!!"
* * * * * * * * *
"Hah..." Yoneda went up the stairs, rubbing his chin. "I knew I saw that old guy before somewhere… He's that drunkard I met at the party in Yokohama, my ol' dance partner. Hehehe... erhmen… Still, I wonder
what he wants with Yamazaki... Eh?? Yamazaki??"
He stopped to see Yamazaki outside in the hallway, standing at the door. "Ayame... come on... don't be so upset..." But there was no answer. Sighing, he turned to leave. "Aa, Shirei! Please try to get Ayame out of her room."
"W-What happened with Ayame-kun??" Yoneda stammered, as Yamazaki stormed paced him grumbling. "Things sure get interesting here with you around here. Say `hi' to the drunkard for me!"
He disregarded that last statement – simply because he was quite furious with this `drunkard' who seemed very sober, but very very rude. Yamazaki went right into another room where this old guy was waiting. `I'm going to give this bastard a piece of my mind…!'
"Yamazaki! Finally I have a chance to talk to you... But first of all, who let that hooker in this place??"
"Shut up!" Yamazaki exclaimed, "Ayame is a soldier for the Tai Kouma Butai!!"
"They let hookers into military now...?"
"NO, you've got it all wrong, you ignorant old man!!! She's not a hooker...! She's...!" Yamazaki stopped and fell into a chair; the old guy was laughing at him and probably not listening to a word he was saying. "Who are you anyways?"
"Figured you wouldn't know. I'm Kanzaki Tadayoshi."
Yamazaki's mouth fell open. "No way..." After surpassing the shock, he sat up and fixed his tie, looking nervous. "W-What do you want with me then? All I've ever gotten from you was rejection."
"That's what you think." Kanzaki replied, leaning on his cane, "I've been trying to get a meeting with you for a long time, but the people under me are such bastards that they always do something to prevent it. Next thing I know - this same people who say crap about you are the same using bits and pieces of your work."
"Oh... well, at least someone using it."
"Don't you want any credit?"
"Do you think I want to be associated with the same guys who want to build big spirit cannons that suck the life out of living things?"
"No, I figured you were different. But, at least think about working for me on your own project. Those hypocrites I can't fire because they're actually doing something... I can't afford to have an lab full of ideas with no one working."
Yamazaki let out a long sigh. "I can't afford to go back into a lab... I don't want to do any work ever again."
"What about your spirit armor?"
"What about it? It failed."
Kanzaki shook his head. "I was there at your presentation - I saw the accident... despite it all, you had me convinced."
"You were there??!"
"Of course! I'm not the head of my company for nothing! I know good ideas when I see them and like I told you've I been following you around." he explained, again waving the cane at him, "Disasters happen, but you got to keep going on. Otherwise nothing is ever going to change and hypocrites will keep running the show. Just like what happened to your father..."
Yamazaki shuddered at the mention of those words. Stooping in his chair, he helplessly gave Kanzaki his attention. "What about him?"
"He had great ideas too... 'Useless dreams' - they kept telling him. I liked his spunk so I stuck with him. Even if he was a bit crazy, everything he said made perfect sense. But it wasn't the demons that brought an end to your father... it was people... Selfish, manipulative people who stabbed him in the back. But not all people are like that."
"Where are you going with this??" Yamazaki grumbled, getting impatient, "I told you I won't work for you or anyone. The only reason I came back here was for Ayame and my friends. I'm not going to get involved with this war, you hear me! I don't care what happens to Teito!"
"Sure you do care," Kanazaki replied, "You wouldn't be able to come up with those types of ideas or be able to have the power to even fight the demons if you didn't. You wouldn't be able to love that girl out there, if you didn't care if millions of people died."
Yamazaki didn't reply; he sat, clutching his arm as he stared to the floor.
"I wonder what are you going to do with your life... If that girl suddenly turned against you, if all the things that do matter to you disappeared...what would you do? Why not do something when they're still with you? Why not do your best to keep them with you and prevent whatever harm to come to them - while saving others at the same time? You know as I know that your 'worthless ideas' could save people... you're just afraid to admit it."
Another minute passed. Yamazaki still didn't respond. Kanzaki took a hint and stood from his seat, heading for the door. "I've said all I could to you. I wish that you have a nice life, Yamazaki..."
"Wait," Yamazaki stood and faced him, fists uncurling at his side. "I still have the worthless ideas on paper... If you mind, I'd like to make some adjustments before I give them to you tomorrow."
Kanzaki smiled and silently left.
* * * * * * * * *
Ayame finally came downstairs. She wore a green kimono with her hair up in a bun and shawl on her shoulders. When she got to the dinner room, she saw that it was just Yoneda and Kazuma sitting at the table, looking over the majinki. Hanakoji had to go to his room,
because he had too much sake.
"Ano..." she uttered, coming between them, "Where's Yamazaki-shousa??"
"Yamazaki went out," Kazuma explained, "He said he didn't want anyone to bother him. It seemed serious."
"I guess I'll go bother him." she said, walking towards the door, holding a scarf. She knew she didn't want to stay too long in the room - not with those suspicious looks Yoneda kept flashing at her and Kazuma. 'Wah! Nothing happened!!'
Yoneda's eyes followed her out the door. "Kazuma, I hope you know what you're doing, messing with that girl's mind. She's already confused enough."
"W-What are you talking about?!" Kazuma cried, "I'm not doing anything!" Yoneda dropped his head and sighed, as his friend frantically started flipping through photographs again while mumbling to himself, "What have I done? Please forgive me, my little angel…!"
Ayame stepped out into the snow, her sandals making crunching noises as she walked. In the distant part of the courtyard, she saw him – sitting on the ground against a tree.
`There you are…'
Without any hesitation, she went towards him, quickening her pace with each step. Although it was cold and she really should stay inside and her wounds still hadn't properly healed, she couldn't stay away any longer.
`Because today is unlike any other day… A lot unusual events have happened… For the first time, we're not worrying about the enemy or fighting demons… I received a kiss from my first love … I was mistaken for a hooker (sadly, again)… But mostly importantly, you came back to me…'
Ayame stopped in front of him, waiting for him to notice that she was there. It took longer than she expected, since he was so absorbed in his work. She finally reached over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Shousa!"
"WAH!?" He jumped in his spot, looking up at her with big eyes. "A-Ayame! What do you want?" he gasped, trying to calm down as she knelt down next to him. "It's cold. Why don't you go inside?"
"Why don't you??" she replied, going to button up his coat and tie the scarf around his neck, "What are you doing out here?"
"I'm working on these plans to give to Kanzaki…"
"Kanzaki??" she repeated, looking astonished, "Kanzaki-Tadoyoshi was here?"
"He was the guy who said you were a hooker." he noted. Ayame's face grimaced. Steering away from the subject, she peered over at the papers in his hands. Yamazaki handed them to her and let her have a closer look. "It's the spirit armor I dreamt up and been wanting to make reality for years… Maybe Kanzaki could make it possible."
"I'm sure Kanzaki-san would be able to. But, I wonder if he would still need your assistance in the project or if he has anyone in mind to power these suits."
"Spirit armored are powered by people like you, Ayame." he noted, shaking his finger at her, "No doubt you'll be his number one test subject."
"So you think I have enough spirit??" she asked, leaning over to him with a sly grin.
Yamazaki went beet red and shook his head. "I was just considering that they would probably do awful experiments on you…"
"Mou!" Ayame stood up, a bit ruffled by his comment. She looked towards the house, shivering while thinking about how warm it was inside. "Let's go in. I'm feeling cold." When she started to go, she noticed he wasn't coming with her. "Yamazaki-shousa…?"
"I still don't know," he uttered, staring down at the snow, "What good I'm bringing to the team." He got up and started to come towards her. "Taisa and you have courage… Your combined power and skills are amazing. Shirei makes good strategies and gives experience to the team. I feel like I don't have anything to offer… except these ideas… But other than that…"
"It's not true!" Ayame gasped, "Don't think like that, Shousa! Because of you, I-I finally…!" She didn't have to say anymore; he knew what she was trying to tell him. Whether or not he believed it was answered with the embrace he gave her. `Yamazaki-shousa…'
"Ayame… arigatou…" he said softly in her ear as snow started to fall around them, "Hearing that from you makes me glad I came back. I missed you so much. If for some reason, someday you ever…" He stopped talking, going hold her tight as she was going to disappear any moment.
"Yamazaki-shousa, I won't." She lifted her face to his. "This feeling won't stop. No matter what happens, I'll always feel this way."
She could see the blue eyes sparkle with joy as she said these words, and her own smile shining. Snowflakes falling around this smile, Yamazaki leaned over and gave her soft kiss to thank her.
"Me too," he whispered as he drew away, "To be with you like this from here on, that's all I ever could wish for."
"Yamazaki-shousa…"
"Now, could we go inside? I'm freezing."
"Hai!" she chimed, as he put his arm around her and they started to walk back. She could see Kazuma waiting for them at the door, his embarrassed face for having seen everything. But Ayame no longer felt any guilt, because for the first time in her life all the uncertainties had been lifted. In this moment, Ayame knew who she loved and would love for the rest of her days.
* * * * * * * * *
"Yoneda, I've been thinking…" Kazuma sat at the table with Yoneda, sipping warm sake. "Maybe the reason why I'm so suddenly attracted to Ayame-kun is because I miss my family. I should go home for the holidays."
"Sou da yo!" Yoneda replied, "Go take some time off and stay with them until we're called back to work. Sakura-chan would be happy to see you!"
"I'm sure she would. But, do you think they'll call us back anytime soon?"
Yoneda shrugged. "Those bastards do what they want anyways. But, you shouldn't feel bad about this whole thing with Ayame-kun. I had a similar experience back in the day. War is a lonely world… you can't get far without comfort from somewhere, anywhere. I'm sure you just did what came natural to you at the moment…"
Kazuma took a moment to think about it. "You have a point."
"BUT THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE IT!!!" Yoneda exclaimed, turning on the rage, "Ayame-kun is like a daughter to me! I won't let bastards have their way with her!! You better remember that, Shinguji!!"
"Hai!" Kazuma squeaked. He paused. "Were you the one who they told me was flirting with my wife that time she came to visit?" Yoneda went pale and hid behind the stack of bottles. "It was you!!"
"Let's just forget about it, okay?" Yoneda nervously gasped. He paused looked around. "Where is Ayame-kun and Yamazaki??"
The two of them exchanged looks. "MASAKA…"
Running up the stairs, they checked each of the rooms. Finally they found them in the parlor. "What??" Yamazaki grumbled, sitting on the couch with a sleeping Ayame on his side, "Could you get her off? She's kind of heavy."
Kazuma smiled down at her. "She's sleeping soundly for once. Let her be." Yamazaki gave up without argument and shrugged. "Come on, Yoneda, let's leave them alone."
Those two left. Yamazaki leaned his head against hers, looking over at the window where the snow was coming down. `Dream away, Ayame… I'll be right here when you wake up.'
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Next Chapter: "A Big Deal"
When you said that all people were alone, I knew you were a terrible liar. You're not alone; you have that girl and your friends in Tokyo. And I'm not alone either; there's at least someone in this world who cares about me. Even if you are a liar, I still like you and want to help you out. I'm coming to Tokyo, could we meet somewhere? There's some information I want to share with you regarding some old business. Please take care until then, Shinnosuke-kun.
