Author's Note: Sorry for the last chapter being slow and all, but I
basically wanted to show you Maya's current state of mind, especially
since the events behind Mitsuomi's death will play a key part in the
plot later on. Well in any case, if you're waiting for the fluff in
Maya and Aya's relationship, I'll have a little bit in this chapter,
though not to much, it's a bit too early for it now. With that said,
let's continue where we left off in the last chapter.
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Healing
(Aya's POV)
Today is going to be Oneechan's first day of healing, I've carefully
planned out all of today's events. We'll go to the water park around
noon today to beat the rush of people, then around 3:00, I'll take her
to the Game Gio Arcade and Karaoke Box, and then around 6:30, I'll take
her to Riky's for dinner. When all of that's done, we can head home at
around 8:00 and rest for the remainder of the day. This day is going
to be perfect!
"Oneechan, are you ready to go yet?" I knock on her door.
The door opens and I can't help but look surprised at how my sister
looks. Instead of planning to go out as her usual self, I find her in
her child form, dressed in a children's swimsuit. I did tell her to
get dressed for the water park, but I didn't want her to be in that
form. I just find it odd that she wants to go out like this,
especially since she's always in her normal form whenever we go out
anywhere.
"Oneechan, why are you in your child form?" I ask her.
"Is something wrong with it?" she asks back.
"No, it's just that you're never in this form whenever we go out
anywhere except for school," I tell her. "It's just...weird that you
want to go to the water park like this."
"Are you really that uncomfortable with it?"
"To be honest... yes."
"All right, I'll change," she sighs, "give me a bit."
I head to the garage of our house now so that I may get Oniichan's old
bike started. I pull the motorcycle out to the curb and begin to start
it up. The bike sputters a little after I turn the key into the
ignition, but after several tries, the sputtering stops at the engine
begins to run smoothly. I decide to head back inside now to wait for
my sister, but before I could, I am stopped by the one I was waiting
for.
"Is this better?" she asks.
Sometimes it shocks me how my sister dresses, and this uniform is no
different. The black bra that was meant to be part of her bathing suit
is being worn on the outside, but the leather jacket that she's wearing
with it is open, totally unzipped. She's also wearing leather pants to
go with her attire, the pants sagging at her hips enough that I can see
the rim of her bikini bottom. The high-heeled boots and open-fingered
gloves also don't help. Just seeing her dressed like this makes my
throat itch and my face burn, I can't help but feel more and more
uneasy with every second I stare at her.
"Oneechan, are you sure you want to wear that outfit?" I ask her.
"Is there something wrong with it?"
"Never mind," I tell her, not wanting to get into the details, "let's
go. I'll drive."
I make sure to keep my eyes on the odometer of the bike to keep my gaze
away from my sister's outfit. Though I manage to keep my vision away
from her, my face can't help but burn more as my sister wraps her arms
around my waist and her body pressing against my back. I find myself
beginning to sweat profusely now and my heart nearly jumping out of my
chest, the feeling only worsening as she presses closer.
"What's the matter?" Oneechan asks.
"No, nothing!" I quickly respond. "Let's get going!"
I rev the bike up once more, the motorcycle quickly bouncing off the
curb and onto the road after the initial run. Though the wind is
swirling before my face and my body, it does nothing to cool the sweat
that still runs down my brow. Oneechan just doesn't have any shame
when it comes to things like this. Maybe I'm just being too self
conscious and... No, I can't think about it now, I have to concentrate
on the road. Wait, is she... She's pulling me in closer! Just don't
think about it, Aya, just don't think about it... Think about
Souichiro-sama... It's just Oneechan that's holding you, she can't
mean anything by this... She can't mean...
"Aya, you're driving awfully fast," Oneechan informs me.
"I...I'm sorry, it's just..."
"We're going 125 mph," she leans in closer so that she can point to the
odometer, "you should slow down before the police catch us."
"Yeah, I should..."
'Please let this ride be over soon...'
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(Maya's POV)
Aya can be such a child sometimes... This idea of going to the water
park, her enthusiasm in trying to help me, and her getting embarrassed
because of my outfit and how I clung onto her as she drove us here,
it's all very childish. I have to admit though, it's better than her
turning out like me, that's the last thing I want.
We've been here in the park for about an hour now, I haven't found any
of this entertaining. Watching children and their parents running
around or swimming in the pools does bring a smile to my face, but it's
not enough to entirely change my mood. It's just like yesterday and
the two days before; I can't stop thinking about Mitsuomi. Even when I
fell asleep last night, I couldn't stop thinking about him. My last
words to him, I still remember them as if I had just spoken them...
"Let go of me!" I ordered him. "I said let me go! You disgust me, you
know that! I gave you everything two years ago; my heart, my soul, my
virginity... Everything! But that wasn't enough, was it? I trusted
you, I can't believe...!"
"Maya...I..."
"Don't touch me! I said don't touch me! I never want to see you
again! You are nothing to me, Takayanagi Mitsuomi, so you can die for
all I care!"
If only I had known what happened later that evening, no, if only I had
known about his condition, I would never have said those things. I
never meant any of them, it wasn't fair of me to explode on him like
that after... Brother, is this how you were planning to get your
revenge on him? Were you planning to use his feelings toward me as a
tool for his own demise?
"Oneechan, are you okay?"
I look toward the ground to find my sister in front of me. She holds
onto the edge of the pool which is only a few inches away from my feet,
her eyes once again showing me her naivety. I try to avert my gaze
away from her, those eyes only making me feel even more guilty. I turn
my attention to the glass of lemonade I had ordered and take a sip,
trying my best to act as if I haven't been thinking of Mitsuomi again.
By the time I turn back to Aya, I find her still staring at me with a
worried expression on her face.
"You've been thinking about Mitsuomi-san again, haven't you?" my sister
finally asks.
"...yes," I admit.
"Oneechan, I brought you here today so that you wouldn't have to think
about Mitsuomi-san, at least for a few hours," she tells me. "Come on,
at least join me for a swim."
"I'm not really in the mood for swimming," I tell her, taking another
sip of my drink. "I just... want to be alone right now."
"Oneechan..., you've been doing nothing but moping these last three
days," she tells me as she gets out of the pool. "Can you try to be
your usual self again, at least for today?"
"Leave me alone..."
I take another sip of my drink, the rest of the liquid running down my
throat in seconds. The itchiness in my throat is still there, despite
the refreshment I just finished, but it wasn't like I was thirsty in
the first place. I feel even worse now seeing how the only reason we
came here today was so that Aya could try and cheer me up. I really do
envy her cheerfulness and her naivety, why can't I...
Before I know it, I find a force exerted on my back and I find myself
stumbling forward. After only two steps, I find the ground
disappearing underneath and my entire body engulfed in water. I swim
up to the surface in seconds and look back to where I once sat, finding
my sister behind my chair laughing at me. My eyes begin to narrow as
she continues to mock me, my teeth biting down on one another as she
begins to approach me.
"You really need to cool down, Oneechan," she smiles as she stands
above me.
"And you look like you could use a drink."
I grab her ankle now and raise my arm upward, pulling her with it. I
rotate my arm behind me and a large splash follows after submerging it
into the pool again. I turn to where I threw my sister to find her
gasping for air the moment she emerges. The sight of her getting
flustered and choking on pool water makes my lips curl and my sides
ache. I can't help but laugh as she grows cross with me, just looking
at her get even more angry makes me laugh even harder.
"Oneechan!" Aya screams at me.
I find my mouth suddenly filling with water as the same liquid travels
down the rest of my face. I take a second to spit the liquid out
before returning the favor, splashing even more water at her with the
wave of my arm. The splash runs down her entire face, a majority of it
causing the bangs of her hair to sag to her eyes. My sister tries to
do mimics her first action, this time using both of her hands to cup
water to fling toward me. Even after the contact of both splashes, her
hands continue to throw water at me in an attempt to prevent me from
returning the favor. Despite her attempts, I copy her actions, both my
hands cupping water and flinging it at her. Underneath the sound of
all the splashes, I can hear my sister giggling with my own laughter.
Our cries grow louder with every splash as our arms grow tired from the
constant throwing. Eventually the splashing stops, the sound of both
of our laughter echoing throughout the whole pool.
"Do you feel better now, Oneechan?" she asks as she tries to calm down.
"Yes, I do," I answer.
"Come on, let's go down the water slide!" Aya quickly takes my hand and
tries to pull me out of the pool.
"All right," I allow her to pull me along.
There are no lines for the slide allowing Aya and I to head to the
biggest one without delay. From the top of the slide, I can see the
whole water park, not that it's big to begin with. The wind is a bit
strong as we stand up here, and looking down to the pools below almost
makes me dizzy. Just standing here reminds me of the last time I was
here. I was twelve years old, Aya ten, and our brother fourteen. The
three of us came here once during a weekend, we all thought it would
just be nice to go. I remember how the three of us came to this very
spot, how excited we were to go down it. Well, everyone except Aya.
"Are you scared?" our brother asked her.
"...yes," Aya answered almost in tears.
"Then how about the three of us go down together?" he proposed. "That
way Maya and I can protect you as we go down. Isn't that right, Maya?"
"Yes, that's right," I answered.
"...okay."
And that's just what happened, the three of us went down the slide
together. Our brother was the one in the front, while I clung onto his
back and Aya clung onto mine. Before we knew it, we were traveling
down the slide, our cries echoing above the crashing waves we rode down
and the whistles of the air. I remember how Aya clung tightly on to my
back as we slid down, how her fear turned into laughter as we all
traveled down together. Before we knew it, the ride was over and all
three of us were once again wading in the pool. All three of us were
still laughing afterwards, in fact, Aya was no longer scared and she
wanted to go again.
I look to my sister in the present to find her wearing the same
expression she wore four years ago when we were at this very spot. Her
hands constantly run down her arms as her knees shake, her entire body
trembling as she looks to the ground below us.
"Aya, are you scared?" I ask her.
"...yes," she answers just like how she did back then.
"Do you want to go down together then?" I ask.
"...okay," she answers with the same insecurity.
I sit myself down on the slide down, my sister's arms soon wrapping
around my shoulders. She clings on tightly, her breath practically
tickling my neck. Wasting little time, I push ourselves down the
slide. Her hold on me tightens as we travel down the crashing waves
and plastic surface, her insecurity replaced by laughter. The wind
pushes against us very swiftly, the wrapping of her arms tightening
and the cries of our laughter growing louder as it grows more fierce.
Suddenly the feel of the slide disappears and we find ourselves
submerged in the pool once again, our faces still burning from our
cries as we went down the slide.
"How was that?" I ask my little sister.
"That was fun," she answers. "I was only pretending to be scared when
we were up there."
"Then why did you pretend?"
"I just wanted to go with you."
The smile on my face disappears after her words, but it doesn't do so
because of disappointment or any ill feelings. My throat has become
parched once again, my stomach in knots, and my breath short.
Something within me is starting to stir, but it's nothing bad. What is
this? Have I been staying the pool too long, or...?
"Come on, let's go again!" Aya takes my hand and pulls me out of the
pool.
"All right," I find myself smiling again.
* * *
"I haven't been here in a while," I tell Aya as we walk through the doors.
"I know," my sister smiles.
The Game Gio arcade, I used to come here all the time during my first
year at Todou Academy. I usually ditched class back then just so that
I can come here or take a nap. I remember how I would only spend 100
yen on a single machine here, that 100 yen lasting me the whole day. I
was one of the top players here, my name was always at the top of the
high scores list.
"Oneechan, let's play this one!" I find Aya already sitting at a
machine.
I take the machine directly across from her. Soul Calibur II, I
haven't played this game in a long time. I may be a bit rusty, but I'm
sure I can still beat Aya in it. She chooses Xianghua, and I pick
Taki; if I remember correctly Xianghua is a very tricky character to
use, and I don't think Aya's played this game before. The arcade
manager seems to have set the timer on unlimited and the victory rounds
to three. It shouldn't be long until I defeat her.
As soon as the match starts, I begin my attack, but to my surprise, my
sister's character parries it. She tries to follow with a straight
stab, but I manage to deflect that attack. I go for a kick this time,
but to my surprise, she does another deflection. We continue to
deflect one another's attacks now in a see-saw fashion, sometimes
trying to throw one another, only to be countered each time.
"I had no good idea you were this good, Oneechan," Aya compliments me.
"I can say the same about you," I tell her as I deflect her next
attack, "I didn't think you really liked to play these kinds of games."
The battle of deflections just continues to go and on for what seems
like an eternity. The last time I checked the clock, it was 3:30 p.m.,
but now that I look back at it, it's 5:30 p.m. It doesn't look like
either of us is going to stop parrying or deflecting at this rate, and
we're both getting tired of this.
"...let's call it a draw," I propose.
"Yeah," she agrees.
The two of us begin to make our way out of the arcade now, but my
sister stops at the "Whack-a-Mole" game. She puts in a single 100 yen
coin in the machine and the game starts. As soon as one of the "moles"
pops up, she immediately strikes it with the hammer, followed by the
next one before it can fully emerge. She continues in this fashion for
the duration of the game, I lose count of how many she hits after
one-hundred. I've never seen anyone hit so many of these "moles" in
this game in my life, and at this speed too. It's true that at least
another mole emerges right after you hit one and that it's impossible
to hit them all, but Aya makes it look so easy. I turn to the ticket
dispenser of the machine and find it rapidly dispensing tickets,
creating a large pile at the bottom of the machine. By the time she's
finished, the entire roll of tickets is on the ground. I look up to my
sister and see that she hasn't broke a sweat in the minute that made up
the duration of the game.
"That was fun!" she smiles.
She takes the tickets to the prize counter now, quickly pointing to a
prize she wants. She chooses a large, white stuffed bear that's worth
30,000 tickets. Amazingly, just that one game of "Whack-a-Mole" was
enough to purchase it.
"Oneechan, here," she hands me her prize.
"Aya?"
"I want you to have it," she tells me. "Whenever I'm in my room and
feel upset, I always hold on to something, like a stuffed animal. You
should learn to hold on to things too, Oneechan."
"Thank you, Aya, I'll keep it close."
"Hey, let's go to the Karaoke Box!" she drags me again.
* * *
The entire day just flew by because now we find ourselves back home.
We spent an hour at the Karaoke Box; even though I wasn't very good,
Aya still cheered me on and the dinner at Riky's was delicious as it
always is. For the first time in these past three days, I was able to
forget about Mitsuomi and start smiling again. My sister, she was very
supportive of me today, she did everything she could to make me feel
comfortable and at ease with myself. But now that we're home, I feel
as if that happiness might just disappear, that I'll go back to sulking
in that corner.
"Did you have fun today, Oneechan?" Aya asks me as she walks me to my
room.
"Yes," I answer as we stop by my door. "Aya, thank you very much for
today," I tell her. "It was nice to spend the day with you."
"You're welcome, Oneechan, I had fun too. I'm going to bed now, good
night."
"Good night."
I watch my sister walk down the hall until she disappears from my
sight. I go into my room now and the smile that was stretched on my
face disappears at this moment. Something doesn't feel right as I
stand here, something feels like it's missing. The beating of my heart
is calm, my skin feels cold, everything just feels so...empty.
"Whenever I'm in my room and feel upset, I always hold on to something,
like a stuffed animal," I remember what Aya said earlier that day.
"You should learn to hold things too, Oneechan."
I begin to wrap my arms around the bear my sister gave me back at the
arcade, but it does nothing to fill this emptiness I'm feeling. This
feeling, it's different from the sadness I was going through the last
few days, I don't know how to describe it. When I was with Aya today,
that emptiness wasn't there, instead my face was constantly burning, my
knees weakening, and my breath short. I felt so weak, but at the same
time, empowered. I can't really describe that feeling either. It's
similar to how I felt when Mitsuomi and I were together but... No, it
can't be... This feeling... Am I falling for Aya? Am I falling for
my own sister? No..., I can't! It's not right, I can't fall in love
with her, I can't be in love with her! I... I...
"I need you, Oneechan!" her words from yesterday echo in my ears once
more.
I need her too, I need her to make me feel important, I need her to
support me, I need her to... Stop it, Maya, Aya didn't mean it like
that. She's your sister, your little sister, that's all she is. She's
family, you and her share the same blood, nothing can ever happen
between you. She can still make you feel important, she can still
support you, she can do these and many other things as your sister.
Think about it, if you were to even suggest the idea to her, she'd be
disgusted by the fact. She's in love with that kid, she's in love Nagi
Souichiro, she's dedicated every fiber of her being to that young man,
so despite what you may think, she can never love you like that. But
even if that is true, I...
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(Aya's POV)
I'm glad Oneechan was able to have fun today. For the longest time, I
saw her smile. It wasn't the usual fake smile she gave me and the
others after Oniichan died, it was her real smile. It wasn't there at
first, but as the day went by, I noticed it was slowly coming back.
It's still not entirely back though, there's something else holding her
back from truly smiling. When I dropped her off in her room, it looked
like she was struggling with something. It shouldn't come to a
surprise to me though, today was just the first day of healing, I can't
expect results yet.
I hear the door to my room slide open now, the device sliding back a
second later. I hear footsteps drawing closer to my futon, but I don't
turn to greet the individual that entered, instead remainging focused
on my thoughts. The sheets of my mattress begin to ruffle now and I
feel the breath of another beginning to blow onto my neck, breaking my
concentration. Arms begin to wrap around my waist and the body of
another pressing into my back. It is now that I turn around, turning
to find the face of my sister, her lips frowning and her eyes shut.
"Oneechan...?" I call her.
"Please, just let me stay like this," she tells me. "You told me that
whenever you're in your room and feel upset, you hold on to something.
Aya, I know it's selfish of me, but can I hold on to you instead? Just
for tonight, please? Can I hold you just for tonight?"
"Of course," I smile, bringing my hand onto my sister's.
"Thank you..."
In a manner of minutes, she falls asleep just like she did last night,
but I am left awake. I can't help but wonder what it is that's
troubling my sister. My best guess would be that she's still upset
over Mitsuomi-san's death, but other than that, I'm not sure.
Actually, throughout the entire day, Oneechan was being more humble
than she usually is. It could be because she's still in mourning, but
sometimes I noticed she was blushing, like when we had dinner. When I
pointed out that she had rice on her face and then picked it off for
her, I thought I saw her blushing as I ate it. Then earlier that day
at the Karaoke Box, she turned red again after I told her she did well
after she sang. I don't know what else is wrong with her, but I do
know one thing. Whatever it is that's making her feel uneasy, I know
we'll get through it together.
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Author's Note: Well, how was it? I hope it was all to your liking, it
was very difficult for me to write. Maya's starting to fall for Aya
now, but unfortunately Aya is oblivious to her sister's true feelings
at the moment. I got the names for the arcade and restaurant from
episode 19 of the Tenjho Tenge anime, but I wasn't sure what game
Mitsuomi and Maya were playing in that episode so I just went with Soul
Calibur II since most of my friends and I play that game a lot in real
life. As for Maya's outfit which Aya described in the beginning of the
chapter, it's based off the outfit the Maya figurine created by BOME
(you can find a few available on ebay, along with an Aya figurine). In
any case, the next chapter will take place several days after this one,
Aya will then learn of Maya's new feelings for her later in the
chapter. I guess that's it for now, review if you like, but you know I
hate flames.
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