Sakura Taisen (c) 1996,1998,2001,2002 sega co.red co.overworks

Everything returns to the Ocean
part 3

Sumire sat in the desk with a bottle of sake and a purple fan. "Ara, Maria-san! What are you doing up at such a late hour??"

"What about you two??" Maria replied, "What do you think you are doing in the Shihainin's office??"

"Datte~!" Orihime said, "Sumire-sa~n has nominated me as her new Fukushihainin!!"

Sumire crossed her arms. "I can't work with that woman - Fujieda Kaede-san. She doesn't like my scandal-making or my fashion sense... I'll show her, when I demote her... To stagehand, OHOHOHOHOHO..."

"You can't do that!!" Maria cried.

"You're right. She's much too useful. Well, I know she can sing and dance... Do you think she can power a koubu?"

"Kaede-san is still the Fukushihainin! You just can't give her job to Orihime!" Maria argued, "Now the both of you stop this nonsense and go to sleep!" She paused for a moment. "Ah, I forgot... you don't live here anymore, Sumire... So, you go home!"

"It's too late." Sumire replied, "There's no way I'll get a taxi or any ride to come for me. I'm stuck here."

"That's fine... You can sleep in whatever room is available." Maria sighed, "Just don't stay awake too long."

"What are you talking about~!" Orihime said, shaking her finger at her, "We're planning our counter assault! Need I remind you that playboy ex-commander of ours tricked one of our troops into launching that gun and destroyed part of the Teigeki in the process!"

"T-That's true..." Maria uttered, thinking back to earlier that evening. The Hanagumi were on stage doing rehearsals, when they heard a rumble.

"Eh? W-What was that??" Sakura gasped, "Masaka... Kanna-san's stomach...?"

"No it isn't! I had my dinner already!" Kanna replied, as the ground started shaking, "Oi oi, now what's happening?!?!"

A giant bullet came up through the stage and broke through the glass dome above. "EEEEEEEEEEEH!???????" the Hanagumi cried as wood and glass went everywhere. "W-What just happened??!"

Kohran ran into the theater, panting. "MINNA-HAAAAN! TAIHEN YAA!!" She paused to look around. "Oh, looks like I'm a little late..."

"Kohran! What is going on~!?" Orihime demanded, "Was that one of you cra~zy inventions??!"

"No way! I blow things up, not break them! It was Oogami-han! He rigged the door downstairs so that whenever someone opened it, it would pull the trigger to the Gun-transporter that the Paris Kagekidan gave us. Only, he didn't lift it out of the ground first before launching... I guess he's not too familiar with the mechanics..."

"Who cares about the mechanics~!" Orihime cried, "There's a big hole in the middle of the theater and openi~ng night is after tomorrow!!"

Maria sighed as she continued up the stairs. 'How could he do this to us? At least there will be staff here to repair the hole in the morning, and we did get lots of rehearsal done already... But, what if both Taicho and Kaede-san don't return in time...?'

She stopped to see that were lights on in Oogami's room. She quickly went in to see who was in there. "Ah! Sakura?!"

"M-Maria-san...!" the girl cried, trying to hide her mop behind her back.

Maria sighed again. "Why are you cleaning Taicho's room at such an hour?"

"I always clean Oogami-san's room when he's not around." she said, going to remove the handkerchief from her hair. "When he was in Paris, I spent most of my time here. And when I went to Paris, I even broke into his apartment and cleaned. He doesn't even know I do it."

Maria started mumbling to herself, but paused to look at the floor. "Wow, that is really clean! Could you come to my room and..."

"Dame!" Sakura replied, "I only perform this special service for Oogami-san!"

"You must stop this obsession. Didn't we all talk about not letting Taicho have his way with us? Besides, he ditched us to chase after Kaede-san. Doesn't that upset you?"

"Kind of... But I'm really worried about Kayama-san. He did not look very stable the night he asked Kaede-san to come with him..."

"What do you mean? How were you able to tell how he looked??" Maria asked. Sakura just pointed to the wall. "A-A peep hole??! Taicho has a peep hole into Kaede-san's room?!?"

"I-Is that why that's there?!" Sakura cried, fire burning in her eyes, "Oogami-san, you pervert! I won't forgive you!!!" She then picked up a rag and started wiping the windows.

"Sakura..." Maria uttered, getting her to turn around. "STOP IT!!!!!" She grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her out of there. "We have to tell this to the Shihainin and...!" She stopped again. "Why is Sumire the Shihainin??"

"I don't know, but now I excited about her counter attack strategy! Let's go help!"

"No..." Maria sighed as she was dragged back downstairs, 'This is all your fault, Oogami-taicho!!'

* * * * * * * * * *

Oogami stared at the back of Kaede's head, as they continued to run down the beach. "Wait for me!!" he called after her, "Waaaait!!"

She ignored him, trying to push herself to keep going. "Kayama-kun!! Kayama-kun!!!! KAYAMA-KUN!!!!!"

"Kaede-san!!!" Oogami finally caught up to her, going to trap her with both arms. "Stop this right now! We're been running on this beach for hours and the beeping has already ceased! And look, the sun is already rising!! You have to stop!!"

"NO!" she cried, trying to break free, "Somewhere Kayama-kun is...!"

"I know he is, but we can't keep going like this! You have to take a rest!"

"I can't! I have to find him!!"

"Kaede-san!!" he gasped as she collapsed against him. "Kaede-san..."

"Kayama-kun... I..." she murmured into his shoulder, before she passed out.

Oogami held onto her and looked out to sea. 'Kayama, where could you be...?'

* * * * * * * * * *

"Ayame-kun! Wake up!!" Yoneda said, standing over the girl. "Kazuma and Yamazaki... they're gone!"

"Eh?" She sat up and took a look outside. It was already morning. "What happened, Shirei? Where did they go?"

"I don't know." he replied as they walked outside the shed and Ayame put on her jacket. It was cloudy that morning, unlike the endless sunshine they had met with these past days. Yoneda stopped where the fire once was. "Kazuma was supposed to come get me to take over the watch. But he never came. And when I came out here..."

Ayame knelt down to examine the broken glass and some other items that had been shredded. "These were the maps Shinguji-taisa was looking at... Ah!"

"What is it, Ayame-kun?" Yoneda asked, noticing that she had stood up and was looking off in the distance. "Do you see something?"

"Just now, I saw a flicker of light over that way. Maybe it's them...!" She broke in a run, with Yoneda trailing her. The two ran down the shore for a while, until they saw their comrades up ahead. "M-Minna!!"

"Wait!" Yoneda stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Something is wrong..."

Ayame looked again. Yamazaki and Kazuma were lunging at each other with their swords. "Eh? What are they doing?!" she cried, pulling away from Yoneda, "Taisa! Shousa!! Stop it!!!"

"Ayame-kun!! Don't get any closer!!" he yelled, going after her.

She of course didn't listen. "Stop it please!!" she exclaimed, latching onto Yamazaki's arm. He threw her off and turned to see Kazuma coming at him with a big swing. After getting knocked down, Kazuma went to finish him off, but Ayame ran in the way. "DAMEEEEE!!!!!!!"

"AYAME-KUN!!" Yoneda cried. He saw that the sword did not fall. Kazuma stood there, struggling to keep it up. After this inner fight, he dropped his sword and collapsed. 'Kazuma...'

"Taisa!" Ayame knelt down and checked on him. "He's all right... Thank goodness..." She turned around. "S-Shousa!" Yamazaki had got up and started going towards the water. He kept on going, right into the depths. "Yamazaki-shousa!!!" Ayame screamed, running after him.

Moments later, Yamazaki woke up on the beach. "Wha... What happened...?" He looked to the worried Ayame for answers. They were both soaking wet.

"Shousa, you drowned." she replied, while wiping her eyes, "But I managed to bring you back to shore and Yoneda-shirei revived you with CPR."

"NANI!?!?!" Yamazaki turned to Yoneda, who had a sheepish smile on. "Why you damn old man...!!!"

"Oi! Is this how you thank the person you saved your life, you ungrateful brat??!!"

Ayame watched them argue back and forth for a moment, before going to check on Kazuma. He sat by the fire with a hot cup of tea. "How are you feeling, Taisa?"

"Aa, just a little weak... It seems that Yamazaki and I were possessed by something."

"You mean the ghost?"

"I guess it might have been. I'm not too sure."

"Taisa!" Yamazaki cut in, "I'm starting remember meeting this lady... She was really beautiful."

"Hey!" Ayame gasped, "S-Shousa, how could you...?!"

Kazuma blinked. "Now that I think about it, I too saw a gorgeous woman ..."

Yoneda waved his hands. "Maa maa, are you two are trying to tell me that you met with the ghost of legend??"

"It doesn't make sense." Yamazaki replied, "Why would that woman in the story be vengeful? She died of sorrow, not anger."

Kazuma shrugged. "Whatever it was, it went away as soon as I heard Ayame-kun's voice. Arigaou, Ayame-kun."

"Sonna... I didn't do anything special..." she uttered. She slowly turned around; feeling like someone was watching her from a distance.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Oogami entered the beach shed, carrying the unconscious Kaede. Panting, he put her down onto the sleeping bag. Next, he kicked off his boots and stumbled across the room.

"It's... so... hot... Why did I wear this damn battle uniform...?" He took off his cravat and his jacket. Still sweating like mad, he finally tore off his shirt and tight pants. "Haa... much better..."

He sat there for a moment, feeling relief. He noticed one machine started making some noise so he decided to check it out. 'Hmm, according to the stats coming out, there seems to be high spiritual energy in the air all of a sudden... But it's going away. I wonder how often...' He went to check the earlier readings. 'Aa, it was going off almost every other fifteen minutes. I wonder if Kaede-san noticed this...'

He turned towards her, but tripped on his own boots. "Waaah!!" Fortunately something broke his fall. Unfortunately, it was Kaede. 'Kya!!' he thought, hovering over her with a red face. 'Ka... Kaede-san...!' He was surprised she didn't wake up. 'She must be very tired... I-I better move...' But two arms trapped him in a hold. 'Eeeeeh?!'

"Don't leave me alone..." she mumbled into his forehead.

"Kaede-san! Please release me! I'm not very comfortable being in this position... Um, um, are you awake?? Kaede-san!!" There was no answer. 'I'm stuck... Well, if she doesn't want me to leave her alone, then I won't. Let's rest our eyes for a moment.'

So he closed his eyes. He didn't get to rest for long. Kaede's eyes flickered open and widened. "W-What do you think you are doing?!?" she angrily yelled and threw him aside.

"Uwah!" he cried, after hitting his head against the wall, "Hey! It's not my fault! You said 'not to leave you alone'! And, you grabbed me too!"

She covered her red face. "Then why are you in your underwear?!?"

He blushed and tried to hide himself. "B-Because it got so hot... I didn't do anything! I'm innocent!!"

While those two argued, the same machine Oogami looked at before was acting up. It started smoking and shooting out excess paper. "W-What the?!" Kaede gasped, finally noticing it. "Oogami-kun, get down!!"

The two took cover as the machine exploded, parts flying everywhere. When the black smoke cleared, they came to check out the damage. "At least it was the only one..." Oogami noted, "But this one was collecting information of the spiritual field... Look at these readings from before - it's every fifteen minutes."

"Hmm, you're right. Could it be that something was keeping close watch over us? And..." She stopped and stared at him. "Would you please put on some clothes?!?"

"H-Hai!" he stammered, rushing over to the pile on the floor. "Do you feel much better after resting?"

She nodded. "Thank you for bringing me back... Only I..."

"You're still worried about Kayama?" he asked. She nodded again. "Don't worry. It's not easy to kill off that guy. Kayama always puts on a good fight!"

Kaede sadly stared to the floor. "No, not this time... Kayama-kun told me he's giving up on living. That's why he came here - to die."

"What did you just say?? Are you positive about it? That sure doesn't sound like Kayama!"

"I know, but that's what he told me! Somehow he knew that the ghost would get to him and now... And now he's dead, isn't he?"

"Kaede-san, get a hold of yourself!" Oogami exclaimed, taking her by the shoulders, "A ghost can't kill a person!"

"But the reports say...!"

"I don't care what they say! I won't believe it until I see it! And there's no way a ghost can kill a guy like Kayama! It just can't happen! Besides... I'm sure Kayama was only kidding with you with this 'giving up' speech. It's just a way for him to win sympathy from women."

"What!?!"

"Sure, we both learned it at the military academy. It's the number one method in the book."

"What book?!"

He turned for the door while buttoning his shirt. "Anyways, let's go looking for Kayama again He's probably hiding somewhere and waiting to be found."

"W-Wait a minute...!" She was going after him, but stopped to see a white envelope on the floor. 'This is Kayama-kun's letter... His true feelings...' She stared at in her hands. 'What should I do with it??'

Oogami was calling her, so she put it away in her pocket. "Hai!! I'm coming!"

* * * * * * * * * *

Back at the Teigeki, everyone rushed out of their rooms and down the chutes because the alarm had been pulled. Dressed for battle, they saw that it was only Sumire.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing??!" Kanna said, "Do you think I want to see your ugly face so early in the morning??"

"Be quiet, you gorilla!" Sumire said, pacing back and forth in front of them in military fatigues, "I just wanted to show you all that I have finished our counter attack plan on Oogami-chuui. I worked on it together with the Vice-commander all night."

Everyone turned to Orihime, who was head first on the table snoozing. "Mou... I want another espresso..."

"Sumiree!" Iris said, "Tomorrow is the play. Iris-tachi still has to rehearse some more and help with the repairs on the theater. There's no time to go kick Oniichan's butt!"

"I agree with Iris." Reni said.

"Of course you do!" Sumire argued, "You have 'I love Iris' all over your face!!"

"No, I don't." Reni replied - although in black ink, it was written on her forehead.

Sakura cut in, "Can't we just punish Oogami-san later? I mean, after we finish all the production and other things on the schedule first?"

"Sakura-san! If we keep putting it off, he's going to get away with it again! Look what happened after he came back from Paris. You totally forgot he was running around with those French floozies, didn't you??"

"H-Hai..."

"And Maria-san! Didn't you swear you'd force him to play Russian Roulette with you if he didn't follow orders again??"

"Aa hai, but... I seem to be always out of bullets..."

"Wrong! You keep putting it off, because deep down you have feelings for the little insect. All of us in this room do... Well, maybe not Reni, who belongs entirely to Iris."

Kohran started coughing. "CO... KE... LI... CO... TO..."

Reni's face went blank. "T-That was a misunderstanding!!"

"Really, Reni-han??" Kohran replied, her glasses sparkling evilly. "No, I think you too was running around Paris. Sou ya, that must be it."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Iris exclaimed. She and JeanPaul hovered over Reni, looking scary. "RENI... IS THIS TRUE?!? DID YOU CHEAT ON IRIS?!?!"

"Sumire!" Reni gasped, "Let's hear your battle plan!!"

Sumire swatted her pointer next to her vice-commander to wake her up. Orihime got up and sleepily passed out papers, while yawning. "Fuaaaa... there... you... go... Zzzzzz..."

"Minna-san!" Sumire said, getting back their attention, "All of you must review the notes and report down here by 18:00 hours. Finalize all other duties before then. Orihime-san and I will prep the equipment. Understood?"

Everyone saluted her. "RYOKAI!"

"HOHOHOHOHOHO! I like being commander!"

Kanna exclaimed, "OI! Who decided on this?!!?"

* * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, Oogami and Kaede were looking around the beach again. "Kaede-san, did you hear about the legend of Kizu Beach?"

"Yes, I have... about the warriors dying and the Princess drowning herself... It's her ghost."

"No, you have it wrong. It's not her ghost."

"What do you mean?"

"You only heard part of the story." he replied, leading her to the water's edge. "Now the Princess wasn't the only female in the village; there were a handful of them. And there was a maiden who was just as beautiful as the princess and she was in love with one of the warriors. However, it was unrequited love. The warrior was madly in love about the Princess and happily died protecting her. When the maiden heard about this, she was furious... So, from what I think it's her ghost that has been terrorizing people who came to this beach."

"Oogami-kun, how did you know this side of the story?"

"I heard it from Ayame-san."

"Neesan...?"

"Aa, she told it to me one night at the Teigeki. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure it was one of those hidden moral stories. I think it's very strange that she never told you."

Kaede sighed, "I guess Neesan didn't tell me everything after all. All she ever said to me about Kizu Beach was never to come here..."

"I'm sure with good reason. Even though the report says that there were never any female victims, Ayame-san told me that she was almost killed here. So, I am sure that you could be in a lot of danger too, Kaede-san."

"Oogami-kun..."

"As much as I want to find him, I can't forgive Kayama for bringing you here. If something were to happen to you, I'd...!" He blushed and looked into her face. "B-Because, Kaede-san, you're a very important person to me..."

She went speechless as he reached for her hand. 'No way... Oogami-kun is...?! But he has many girls already! I'm just another female on his list! And I'm the vice-commander; how dare he hit on me!! I won't stand for this!'

He interpreted the silence differently. 'Well, she isn't pulling away or fighting you off, so that's a good sign. And it looks like she's still letting the news sink in. Hehehe, you did it this time, Oogami! Look, she's completely smitten over you!'

'Now's my chance!' they both thought. At the same time, Oogami reached to kiss her and Kaede pushed him over. He fell into the water, bringing her down with him. "UWAAAAH/KYAAAA!!"

Oogami got up and noticed that she was still underwater. "Eh??" He knelt down and saw that she looked like she was struggling. "Kaede-san!?" He reached for her, but she moved from his grasp, heading into the currents. "KAEDE-SAN!!!"

Eyes open, Kaede watched the surface above her become heavy and black. 'I'm being pulled deeper and deeper... Why can't I break free? The air... It's leaving my lungs... I can't move... Am I going to die here...?!' Her strength withering away, she suddenly heard a guitar.

"Kaede-san... you can't give up..."

'Eh!?'

"I'm coming! Hold on!" Oogami called. Before he could dive in the water, he saw her emerge on her own. "Kaede-san! I'm so glad!!"

'Just then, I heard his voice... Kayama-kun's... That means...'

Oogami stopped in front of her, not able to see that she was crying because she was soaked to begin with. "Are you okay?!"

"I... I'm fine..."

"Let's head back to shore. You'll catch cold if you stay like this."

"H-Hai..."

When they got back, Kaede didn't say much. She put on a change of clothes and sat outside on the beach for a while. When Oogami asked if she wanted to go searching again for Kayama, she didn't respond. She just gazed out to sea.

"Are you hungry? I could fix up some soup." he said, trying his best to start a conversation with her, "Or do you want something else?" Again, she didn't say anything. 'Kaede-san...' Oogami finally backed away, deciding that she wanted to some solitude.

Kaede hadn't even paid attention to him when he came to her. She kept hearing the voice that had saved in her in the waves. 'Surely that was him... So, he got what he wanted.'

Once again, she took out the white envelope. However, this time it was soaking wet and she wasn't sure if the contents were still readable. 'His true feelings... for Oogami-kun...?' She looked over her shoulder at the worried guy peering back at her from the shed. She quickly turned away, the ache in her chest hurting ever more.

'So... this is unrequited love...'

* * * * * * * * * * *

Ayame and Yoneda later went to the place where Yamazaki and Kazuma were fighting before and investigated it. "Didn't find any clues, eh?" Yoneda said, "Looks like we don't have anything to go with."

"But, both of them said they saw a beautiful woman." Ayame replied, "I'm sure it's the ghost everyone is talking about, Shirei."

"Hai hai... We've got to somehow get this ghost to stop killing people. But, hasn't she had enough? How much more suffering can she create? That's what I hate about this mission. There really isn't much that us humans can do about a spirit with issues."

"Shirei, do you think we can reason her into change her mind? I mean, if you think about it - her motive for haunting this beach is only because her entire village was killed for her own sake. Maybe she is just trying to find someone to blame, besides herself."

"So, are you saying we have to convince her that it's her own fault? How do you expect to talk face to face with the ghost, let alone reason with one??"

"I was just saying..." Ayame sighed. She paused and looked back to the shed. "She really wanted Taisa and Shousa to die... When I saw Yamazaki-shousa go into the water, I was really scared of losing him. For her to do such a thing is unforgivable, no matter what pain she is feeling..."

"Ayame-kun..."

Her face turned all red. "Aa! Please don't tell Yamazaki-shousa I said that!!"

"Heheh, you can count me, Ayame-ku..." Yoneda's voice drifted off as he stared blankly past her.

"Yoneda... shirei...?" she asked, feeling worried. "Is something wrong?"

"Ayame-kun, go back and bring the others here."

"But why all of a sudden?"

"I just thought of something. Quickly, go get them."

"H-Hai!" she said, going towards the shed. She looked back at him one last time. 'What's going on? Yoneda-shirei is acting strangely...'

When she was gone, a woman appeared behind Yoneda, her arm wrapping across his chest. "That girl will know what pain I am feeling soon..."

* end of part 2 *