Kiss Back
... A giant metal hand three, maybe four times her size reached out
for her, the fingers punching through the walls of her room, sending
chunks of wood and concrete spraying at her, pelting her, bruising
her. The hand closed around her, enveloping her in darkness. No one
heard her scream...
... Mako-chan was shouting her name, urging her to come back, that
she was going the wrong way. As the short haired girl desperately
fought against the crowd to chase after her, the ceiling collapsed,
burying her friend and another dozen students. Mako-chan’s leg snapped
cruelly, and she heard her cry out in agony...
...Massive chains flung out from the darkness, whipping around her
waist, pulling her off her feet and then dragging her across the floor
of the train station. A monster, seven feet tall, eyes shining with
promised brutality and a manic smile of eager anticipation, pulled her
roughly into his arms, his fingers sinking into her skin...
...stop... Stop.... STOP!!
Himeko woke up, bolting upright in her bed, gasping. Tears streamed
down her face, her hands trembling too hard to stop them. She curled
up into a little ball, bringing her knees to her face.
Oh god... oh god... of all the dreams she could have, why those ones?
Why?
It took her heart seemingly forever to slow down to a more natural
pace, until she was able to once more lie herself down into bed.
".... think of better dreams," Himeko told herself, willed herself.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "... Think of happier dreams..."
She thought about her mother and her father, and their trips to the
seaside when she was young.
She thought about Oogami Souma, and the times they had ridden upon
his bikes, each version growing ever bigger and with more torque as
they both grew up.
And she thought about Himemiya Chikane - of the times they spent
eating lunch in the rose garden, the minutes they stole from the rest
of the school, when she was able to keep Chikane-chan to herself. She
thought about the outings they had - shopping, or baking, listening to
Chikane-chan play music on the piano or violin, or tending to gardens.
She thought about Chikane-chan, pulling her into a close embrace, feel
Chikane-chan's hands cradle the back of her head as she stroked her
hair, and rock her comfortingly. She could smell Chikane-chan’s
signature perfume of moonlight lilies all around her, and
Chikane-chan’s voice, bell-like, whispering in her ear, wishing her a
happy birthday.
... she could taste the sweetest of Chikane-chan’s soft lips upon her
own...
Himeko sighed. "...it was just a dream," she murmured softly to
herself, squeezing her pillow tightly, a feeling of knots in her heart
and tummy.
"You know, it might not’ve been a dream. It could have actually
happened."
**********************************************************************
DISCLAIMER: This fanfic was written with knowledge of Kannazuki no
Miko derived from the first three episodes of the fansub currently
available. Spoilers are abound for this series up to the third
episode.
Author's notes and a couple of short omake scenes follow this fic.
**********************************************************************
Himeko’s eyes widened once more when she heard the voice, and she
bolted upright in her bed again, scanning the unfamiliar room
fearfully. She quickly found the source of the voice. There was a
woman sitting on the edge of her bed. Her dark skin was contrasted by
the most luminous of yellow eyes. Straight lavender hair fell down
from her scalp and pooled upon the covers and the sheets. Those eyes
twinkled with what might’ve been malice or mirth behind a pair of
rectangular wire-rim glasses as she studied the frightened girl.
"W-who are you?" Himeko stuttered, holding the cool, thick comforter
up to her chin. It didn’t really offer very much comfort or
protection.
The woman smiled. It was actually quite a warm smile, and her eyes
softened as she did so. "Me? Hmm... well, I don’t really know who I
am." She lifted her arms, as though studying the clothes she was
wearing - a long jacket of various shades of dark purple and gray
overtop of a low cut white top that showed off a shining golden
cross between her bosom prominently - before placing her hands
serenely in her lap again. "I’m a figment of your imagination
brought on by a prolonged period of severe stress. You’ve probably
pulled me together using bits of the people you see everyday,
or..." she looked at her clothes again, "possibly a television
show you watch or a comic book you read."
Himeko stared at the woman again. "You’re a figment...?" She echoed,
unsurely. She didn’t seem convinced at all.
The woman laughed. "Here, watch." She reached forward for Himeko,
causing the younger girl to flinch in surprise, and her fingers
passed right through the blonde’s tummy, until her hand and arm all
disappeared, right up to the woman’s elbow. She waved her arm
around, but Himeko could not feel anything. The woman brought her
arm back out again. "See? I don’t exist. I’m just your mind playing
tricks on you."
Himeko seemed more confused than before as she stared at the woman.
Slowly, she reached out, tentatively, to put a hand on the woman’s
shoulder. Her hand passed right through until she touched her the
covers on her bed. Himeko’s heartbeat slowed a bit as she thought
she understood what was going on. "I’m... dreaming?"
The woman cocked a head to the side in consideration. "Hmm... I guess
you could call it that. People don’t generally know when it is
they’re dreaming through, so, I’m more like that place you’re at
just before you fall asleep, or just before you wake up, when
you’re dreaming, but you also know you’re dreaming so you can
control your dreams to an extent. Make sense?"
Himeko blinked twice, audibly, and shook her head.
The woman laughed again. "Saaaa! In any case, that’s not the important
thing. The important thing is what the Luna... I mean, what
Chikane-chan did."
"What Chikane-chan..." Himeko trailed off. Ghosts of something soft
and gentle lingered across her mouth, distracting away the doubt
she had of the identity of the woman sitting in front of her, and
she couldn’t help herself from blushing. Touching her fingers to
her mouth, she turned to the side. "It... it was just a dream.
Chikane-chan... Chikane-chan would never do that to me..."
Golden eyes shone mischievously once again. "Do what to you?"
The younger girl glowed a shinier shade of crimson as she pulled the
comforter up to her nose now, trying to hide the shame of wishful
thinking. "It... it was just a dream!" She insisted.
The woman sighed, exasperated. "Sweetie, you don’t have to tell it to
me – I am the stuff of dreams. If it really was a dream, you’d know it
was a dream, and right now, your voice is telling the both of us that
you’re just trying to convince yourself it was one."
"But... but it _has_ to be a dream!" Himeko insisted once more. The
fires of desperation that fueled her insistence were strong enough to
allow her to drop her comforter from her face as she regarded the
figment of her imagination. "I mean... because... even if
Chikane-chan wanted to kiss me, she’d... she’d never... I mean, not
without... without..."
The woman cocked her head to the side bemusedly once more.
"...asking you first?" She finished.
Himeko seemed to shrink in on herself, casting her eyes downward.
After a moment, she gave the barest of guilty nods. Oh, after
everything Chikane-chan had done for her... after all the times she’d
protected her... she couldn’t believe she was doubting Chikane-chan’s
character this way, even if it was in a silly nonsense dialogue with
part of herself! What a horrible person she was!
"Saa, shouldn’t you ask her about it then? I mean, don’t you owe it to
both yourself to find out?"
The younger girl seemed horrified with the notion. "I-I can’t accuse
Chikane-chan of... of..."
The room was silent for a moment, as one person could not bear to get
the words out of her mouth, and the other, sensing the first’s
reluctance, did not want to finish her sentence for her. The woman
frowned. "Why are you so upset anyway?” She finally asked. There
was annoyance in her voice. "Don’t you like her? Shouldn’t you be
happy that she kissed you, permission asked or otherwise?"
Himeko remained very still, lost in thought. Annoyingly still. The
woman was about to repeat herself when the girl finally gave a very
small nod. "I... I am happy. I just wish... I wish..." Himeko wasn’t
sure how to express herself. If... if it hadn’t been a dream, then
that would have been her first kiss. Her first kiss. Was it really
so much to ask, to be awake for her own first kiss?
Though the girl hadn’t spoken, the woman seemed to understand. All
feelings of annoyance fleeing, she sat up and laughed merrily. "Oh,
silly girl! Is that all? Well, that’s not such a big problem then! You
don’t have to accuse her of anything. Here’s what you do. You laugh
and you kid and you tell her about this silly little dream you had,
and describe what happened. Then, you tell her, while you laugh and
smile, that 'I wish you hadn’t kissed me. I would have liked to have
been able to kiss you back.' And if she gets the hint, and I’m sure,
smart girl that she is that she will, you’ll have your opportunity
to take back your stolen kiss very shortly."
Himeko stared at this woman who was chuckling on her bed. The laughter
was oddly therapeutic, soothing the beating of her heart, and calming
the doubts that were strangling her mind. She couldn’t help but giggle
back – the sound was contagious. It was sort of hard to believe that a
dull witted girl like herself could have such a clever figment of her
imagination, but she was glad for it.
"Saaa, alright then. I think it’s about time you really woke up." The
woman wiped a happy tear from her eyes and got up off the bed. "And
don’t forget to talk to Chikane-chan when you do, okay?" The woman
raised her arm, her fingers in a snapping position. "Now, are you
ready? Here we go!"
She snapped her fingers. There was a blinding light. Himeko had to
close her eyes from the force of it.
***
When Himeko opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in bed by
herself. She sat up and looked around the room, seeing no one.
Confusedly, she rubbed her eyes, and found that there was no sleep
in them.
"What a weird dream," she murmured to herself.
Just then, she heard a knock on her door. "Himeko?" Chikane’s voice
called through the door. There was concern in her voice. "Are you
okay?"
"C-Chikane-chan!" The blonde girl squeaked, as the door opened and
the tall girl with the dark blue hair walked a step into the room.
The moon was playing off her marine eyes, making them shine eerily
if not for the worry that was easily evident within them. "I...
I... it’s nothing. I just, um, had some... dreams..."
Chikane seemed to glide across the room, her flowing nightgown only
adding to the feeling of beautiful weightlessness, and sat down on
the edge of the bed, curiously, in almost the exact same position
that the figment of Himeko’s imagination had sat. "Tell me about
them?"
For some reason that Chikane could not fathom, Himeko turned a very
pretty shade of pink. "Um, i-it’s okay! It was just... just a weird
dream. Nothing to worry about..." Not wanting to let the other girl
see how badly her face was glowing, Himeko shied away to look at the
window until she felt a light pressure on her hands, and looked down
to realize that Chikane was covering them with her own.
"Himeko," Chikane said softly, but firmly. Himeko couldn’t see her
eyes, but she could feel them upon her, as though pleading for her to
turn her face and meet them. "I know it’s been a difficult time, and
I know it’s going to get a lot worse, so if there’s anything that I
can do to help you, I will do it. I will always stay by your side. If
something is bothering you, I want to know about it."
"Chikane-chan..." Himeko bit her lip. Suddenly, all the good advice
that the figment of her imagination had given her didn’t seem so good
anymore. The laughter and mirth she was to exhibit hardly seemed
appropriate. Make a joke out of it? Be merry? Tell Chikane-chan about
the 'silly dream', laugh it off, and give the other girl the chance to
take it as she would? How could she, when Chikane-chan was looking at
her like that?
"Himeko... please?"
Himeko squeezed Chikane’s hand in acknowledgement. But she didn’t turn
to look at the girl. "I... had a dream about that first attack.
Everybody was trying to run away, and Mako-chan tried to pull me away,
but... I had left your birthday present in my room, so I went back to
get it.
"After the wall came down, I think I must’ve fainted, because I just
remember seeing this... this giant *thing* outside my window, coming
for me... and then... the next thing... you were holding me. You
were holding me very close to you, and... and you told me... 'happy
birthday'... and then..." Himeko trailed off.
Chikane remained very, very silent for a very, very long time. So
long, and so silent in fact, that Himeko couldn’t bear it, and meekly
turned to look over at the other girl, to make sure she hadn't
magically turned into a statue. The dark haired girl was looking
downwards, stricken, the moon easily highlighting the features of
guilt and shame on her face and in her eyes. Slowly, Chikane let go of
Himeko’s hand and put it in her own lap. All of a sudden, she stood up
from the bed, facing away from the other girl.
"... I’m sorry." Chikane’s voice was soft. "I’m... very sorry. I...
I shouldn’t have... I shouldn’t have. It was wrong of me to...
take advantage of you like that. I’m sorry." Very quickly, she strode
across the room, unable to face the other girl again.
A hand on the taller girl’s wrist stopped her when she was barely a
couple of steps from the bed. Chikane couldn't move forward, but she
didn't want to turn around either. So, the both of them remained
where they were, in silence, until Himeko broke it with the barest of
murmurs.
"... you said that you’d stay by me."
That seemed to get the dark haired girl's attention. Chikane
swallowed – she _had_ promised Himeko, hadn't she? She turned her
head, regarding the blonde girl shyly, guiltily, out of the side of
her eyes. The other girl had pulled herself out of bed, and was
kneeling on the covers, stretched with her arm out so she could reach
the dark haired girl. She was trembling ever so slightly, like she
didn’t have very much strength left in her, though the grip Chikane
felt on her wrist told an entirely different story. Himeko's bangs
obscured her eyes.
The figment of her imagination's words came back to echo encouragingly
in Himeko's mind. '...if she gets the hint, and I’m sure, smart girl
that she is that she will, you’ll have your opportunity to take
back your stolen kiss very shortly...'
Very slowly, Himeko got off of her bed and padded silently towards
Chikane, until less than a hand’s length separated them. She didn’t
quite let go of Chikane’s wrist, instead shifting her grip onto the
other person’s hands. Himeko’s head was bowed, and as she was shorter
than Chikane, the taller girl could not see her face. She could barely
hear Himeko’s words either when the smaller girl spoke.
"... I... I would’ve kissed you back..."
Chikane heart stopped beating. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped
slightly open in surprise as she stared down onto the top of Himeko’s
head. Slowly, the blonde moved her face up, until lavender eyes met
and completely captivated marine ones. They held one another’s gaze
for what seemed like eternity, before Himeko closed her own, and
stepped up onto her toes. Her mouth neatly caught Chikane’s own.
Another moment of surprise passed, before Chikane closed her own eyes,
and kissed back.
***
"Wooooo! That was a beautiful performance, Miyako-san!" Idol singer
Corona gave the purple haired woman a grin and a thumbs up as she
materialized back upon her own gate.
Miyako gave Corona a cool smile. "I gave no such thing." She replied,
walking past the younger girl towards the other Orochi. "That was
not a performance – I was simply speaking the truth that the Solar
Priestess already knew, but wanted to hear aloud." Miyako paused in
her steps and gave Corona wink. "But thank you anyway. Saa, how’s our
audience enjoying the 'show' then, hmm?"
Girochi, Nekoko and Reiko were sitting on their behinds atop Miyako’s
gate, staring up at the floating images in the sky, engrossed in the
scene of romance. Nekoko even had a bowl of popcorn in her lap, her
tail twitching happily as she munched. Everyone once in a while,
Girochi would reach overtop of the bound and gagged person between
himself and the cat-nurse, to grab a handful of the snacks, noisily
stuffing it into his maw. Beside him, Reiko had her sketchpad out,
and was apparently taking notes as she glanced up at the sky
periodically, before looking back down and continuing her furious
sketching.
It seemed like the only one who wasn’t watching the images of the
Solar and Lunar Priestesses embrace was the one who’s benefit this
was being shown in the first place – Oogami Souma, currently bound
and crushed against the top of the gate by the weight of ten thousand
steel chain links, was staring listlessly at nothing, unmoving. The
'nice end' of a giant needle was sticking out from the mountain of
chains that bound him, the 'not-so-nice end' disappearing into the
side of his torso somewhere. A giant wad of paper was stuffed into
his mouth. What parts of his body that could be seen were bruised
and purpled from his earlier efforts to free himself.
"Ara, what’s this? Come now, Seventh, don’t be like that. We did this
for you after all. Least you could do is watch." Crouching down,
Miyako removed the gag from Souma, and turned his face to the sky.
Souma violently wretched his chin free of Miyako’s grip, refusing to
watch, and gave a sharp bark of pain as the motion caused the needle
to dig deeper into his rips.
"Oh? Don’t you want to see the woman you love find love and happiness
for herself?"
Panting hard, Souma turned to give Miyako a murderous glare. "You...
you tricked Himeko."
Miyako raised an eyebrow. "Did I? Hmm... well, perhaps I did lie about
being a figment of her imagination. But, I don’t think that’s so bad.
I mean, the girl obviously had a lot bottled up inside, and I just
gave her the chance to let it out. And look how happy she is now!
Look how happy the Lunar Priestess makes her." Miyako gestured up at
the sky, golden eyes twinkling.
Souma snarled up at his tormenter, but found no words to say. He cast
his eyes to the ground, barely able to keep himself from spitting in
fury.
Miyako smiled, leaning down further to whisper into Souma’s ears.
"You really oughta stop protecting her. I mean, you’re only confusing
her and keeping her away from the one she really loves. And for what?
So you can have a chance with her? Well you don’t. She doesn’t love
you as much as she loves the Lunar Priestess, and she never will, so
stop trying to keep them apart. Just listen to what the roaring in
your soul tells you, and let them be together. You belong with us
anyway."
Souma didn’t answer. He couldn’t answer. He was having a hell of a
time shutting Miyako’s reason and logic out of his mind.
The tall purple haired woman smiled and gently pat him on the head.
"Good boy." She looked over at her younger brother. "Girochi, turn
that off and free the Seventh from these chains. Nekoko, get your
damn needle out of him."
"Ooooh, but Nekoko likes giving needles-nya," whined the cat-nurse as
she nevertheless got to her feet and reluctantly pulled the needle
out of Souma’s side. The boy gave a grunt of pain at the rough
ejection.
"No way, Aneki!" The massive green haired man waved at the images in
the sky indignantly with an arm. "I’m not turning this off just
before we get to the good part! After all that stupid talk about
feelings and crap! It’s only getting interesting now!!"
The purple haired woman’s eyes narrowed dangerously, glinting with
promises of retribution. "... Girochi."
The massive man swallowed nervously. "Um, okay..."
"Wait," Reiko said in her feathery voice, not stopping in her
sketching. "It is very difficult to get models of this caliber, and
I am not finished yet. I’ll turn it off when I’m done."
Miyako rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. But Girochi, get your chains
off the Seventh first."
With a wave of his hand, the third neck of Orochi removed his
favorite instruments of binding from Souma, leaving the boy gasping.
Warily, shakily, Souma got to his feet, and stumbled away from
everyone else, towards the edge of the massive red gate where everyone
sat, panting.
Miyako smiled, and turned up to look at the image in the sky, where
the sworn enemies of Orochi had retired to bed, cuddled in each
other's arms after apparently doing nothing more but locking lips –
much to Girochi’s loud cries of disbelief and tosses of popcorn.
Reiko continued to sketch, but she was the only one paying attention
to the priestesses anymore. It had been a gamble, showing up in
front of the Solar Priestess the way she had, and she was relieved
her gamble had paid off. Thank Orochi-sama that she had caught a
glimpse of them embracing during her first fight with the Seventh
just before her defeat. Thank Orochi-sama even more that the Solar
Priestess was as naïve and trusting as she was. And thank Orochi-sama
the most, that she talked in her sleep. Miyako wondered what
Tsubasa-sama would have done if her plan had failed. A shiver went up
her spine and she tried not to think about it. She glanced over at
the first gate, where their longhaired leader was languidly stretched
out, lost in his own thoughts, idly tossing a knife up and down in
his palm.
"... I will protect Himeko."
The sound of Souma’s voice surprised Miyako, and she looked over to
him, the rest of the Orochi following her move. The boy had made it
back onto his feet, and though he was breathing deeply, and his
body was a battered mess, he apparently had quite the fire still
inside him. He was currently looking at Miyako herself. His voice was
steady with strength and his eyes shone with steely resolve.
"... I will protect her. Even if I cannot be together with her. I will
protect her happiness."
Miyako frowned. Hadn't she covered this already? The boy must have a
hearing problem. "I told you. You can’t protect her happiness. By
protecting her, you take her happiness away!" She had to shout the
last of her words, as Souma took the opportunity to flee, disappearing
into a static cloud of dark purple energy while she spoke. She was
pretty sure that he’d heard her though.
"The little bastard!" Girochi shouted, storming up beside his sister
and glaring furiously at where their former captive had just stood.
"Don’t worry, Aneki, I’ll go get him back."
"That’s alright, Girochi," Miyako stopped him as she looked over at
Tsubasa’s direction. Their leader still hadn’t moved from where he
laid. The purple haired woman smiled. "Let him go for now." She
glanced up at the sky. The Solar Priestess had fallen asleep, and
the Lunar Priestess was watching over her with warm eyes. "I think
we’re in good shape."
**********************************************************************
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I really like Kannazuki no Miko, though I'm not sure why, because
there are certain things about it that drives me absolutely batty.
Take, for example, the big kiss – the highlight of the first episode,
and possibly the highlight of the entire series, depending on where
it goes. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out if Himeko was
kissing back, or if she just quietly passed out again. -_-;
It's this vagueness that drove me to write the fic – it's mostly a
reactionary move, because I find it easier to express myself through
fiction than non-fiction or ranting, and hopefully, it's entertaining
too. This fic was meant to be more of a commentary on the show than
anything else. I realize that I probably have the characterization
pretty far off the mark, since, well, I'm really not that familiar
with them all yet - it has only been three episodes after all.
Anyway, please find attached, some of the other things about the
series that made me shake my head (and then laugh guiltily).
If anyone has any comments or criticisms, or would just like to
chat about the series, gimme a line! Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Jen-chan
***
OMAKE I
<This scene picks up in the third episode, after Himeko is startled
awake by dreams of giant robots battling each other. Why she finds
giant robots grappling with each other more frightening than her
townspeople being stomped and trampled on is beyond me>
HIMEKO: <wakes up in one of Chikane’s guest rooms with a small cry
and tears in her eyes> Nooo!
<There is a knock on the door. Chikane’s voice is heard>
CHIKANE: Himeko? <Opens the door and comes in> What’s wrong?
HIMEKO: Oh, Chikane-chan! I, I had a nightma- why were you outside?
Isn’t your room on the other side of the building?
CHIKANE: Huh? Oh, um, I was ah... just, uh, passing by. Um, to the
ah, kitchen. Right. You know. You screamed when I was just passing
by, so I stopped. What happened?
HIMEKO: Oh, okay. Oh, Chikane-chan, it was horrible, I screamed so
loudly because I dreamed that – is that a water glass in your hand?
CHIKANE: <tries to hide the simple stethoscope> Oh, this? This is
just, um... ah, I was, uh, on my way to the kitchen for water! Yes,
yes, that’s why I was passing by your door, on my way to the kitchen
for water.
HIMEKO: ... but if you were on your way to the kitchen, why would you
already have the glass?
CHIKANE: ... <sweatdrops>
HIMEKO: ... <sweatdrops too>
CHIKANE: ... look, do you want to be comforted or not?
HIMEKO: Ah! Oh, well, yes. Please come in.
<Resume the scene with Himeko telling Chikane about her nightmares,
and Chikane staying by her side until the sun comes up>
***
OMAKE II
<This scene picks up in the third episode, when Himeko and Chikane
are walking to school, as with the rest of the student population.
Even though there is debris littering the streets, and the road is
awfully ripped up, nevertheless, the sun is shining, the birds are
singing, and the scene is loaded with highlights and shadows. Female
students with impeccable hair call out gaily to one another, wishing
each other good morning or ‘gokigenyou’>
RANDOM FEMALE STUDENT: Ah, Miya-sama! Gokigenyoaaaah!! <Trips over a
piece of giant robot left over from episode one and does a face plant
into a pool of blood that hasn’t been cleaned up yet. In fact, the
poor 5th grader whose blood was spilt is still twitching on the
sidewalk beside her>
<Resume the scene with students coming to school>
***
OMAKE III
<Scene picks up during the above fanfic, while Chikane and Himeko are
cuddled in bed>
CHIKANE: Ne, Himeko. If I kissed you, you said you'd kiss me back,
right?
HIMEKO: Yes...
CHIKANE: Hypothetically speaking, if I groped you, would you grope
me back?
HIMEKO: ...
<End scene>
***
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