"I like you, Kurusugawa. I want to protect you forever. Would you consider going out with me?" Himeko had always thought about Souma saying those words to her. Souma had been her friend since childhood, and she knew that Souma would be the perfect match for her. However, as Souma said those words, a cold wind blew, bringing with it a strange feeling that Himeko had never felt before. It was a combination of both nostalgia and premonition, hindsight and foresight, as if present and future had suddenly collided, filling Himeko with a vague sense of emptiness. She had waited for Souma to say those words and she was prepared to accept his invitation. However, on this day, the day of her 16th birthday, something about going out with Souma did not feel right. "I'm sorry," said Himeko, "but there's someone that I'm waiting for." A look of surprise came upon Souma's face. "I don't know who it is," Himeko continued. "I just know there's a person somewhere in this world who's waiting just for me." "You don't know who?" Souma asked. "And I'm not sure when, but I feel that someday we'll meet. In fact, I'm sure of it. And that's why I'm waiting, so I'll be ready when it finally happens." The surprise had not left Souma's face. Instead, the look of surprise was supplemented with sadness. "I'm sorry, Ogami," Himeko said, seeing the heartbreak in Souma's expression. "I just--" "Hey," Souma said, raising his hand and shaking his head, signaling Himeko to stop giving her excuse, "it's okay, really." Then, a smile came to Souma's face and he said, "Please Himeko, you don't have to explain. Your expression says it all." Souma started walking toward his motorcycle. Although he forced himself to smile, Himeko could still tell that he was hurting inside. "Ogami..." she said, still wanting to explain to Souma that she was sorry. "I hope you meet that lucky person someday," said Souma, putting on his helmet. "Thanks," said Himeko. Starting up his motorcycle, Souma said to Himeko, "See you at school." At that, Souma drove off. Himeko ran after him, calling out, "Ogami. Thank you for understanding, Ogami." Himeko stood in the warmth of the setting sun, happy that Souma was being so cool about being turned down, but still unsure as to why she felt that there was someone else waiting for her. ---------- When Souma got home, he simply sat down on the steps in front of the shrine that his brother ran. He looked out at that same setting sun and gave a woeful sigh. "Souma," a friendly male voice said to his left. Souma looked up and saw his longhaired brother, Kazuki, standing over him with a cup of tea in each hand. Kazuki offered one of the cups to Souma, showing that he was there for his younger brother when he was down. Souma smiled and accepted the tea. "She turned you down, huh?" Kazuki asked, sitting down next to Souma. "Yeah," the younger boy replied. Souma had told Kazuki several days before about his intention to ask out Himeko on her birthday. And the look on Souma's face let Kazuki know exactly what had happened. "Well," said the older man, "that's the risk you always take when you ask a girl out." "I know," said Souma, taking a sip from his tea, "but still..." "Well," said Kazuki, drinking from his cup as well, "I guess whatever advice a stubborn researcher like myself gives isn't going to be too convincing." "That's okay," said Souma. "I'll get over it." Finishing his tea, he gave his cup back to his brother, who left back into the house. Souma looked back at the setting sun, trying to forget his feelings for Himeko, listening to Kazuki's assistant, Yukihito, sitting in a nearby tree, singing to himself, "Life is very short. Hey boy, why don't you fall in love?" ---------- "I don't want to live without you! Don't leave me!" Himeko held on to the girl's hand with all the strength she could muster. "Himeko! Himeko!" the girl cried. "No. Himeko, I'll come back to you. But you've got to look for me. Promise you'll never stop looking! Please, Himeko! Promise me you'll never forget!" "I'll never forget! I won't! Neither memory nor appearance will matter. I'll never stop looking for you as long as I live and I'll find you, no matter what! I promise I will!" The girl's hand started slipping, and Himeko tried as hard as she could to hold on. However, in the end, the wind pulling the girl away prevailed and the beautiful girl slipped from Himeko's grasp. Himeko jumped to a sitting position, breathing heavily. For a moment, Himeko looked around, not completely sure where she was. Observing her surroundings, Himeko realized that she was in a bed, the lower bunk of two. It was her bed, in her dormitory room at her high school, Ototachibana Academy. It was the same dream again, the same dream that Himeko had been having since her 16th birthday, the dream about a beautiful girl. Himeko tried to hold on to the memory, but it always slipped away so quickly. She could never quite remember the girl's face. All that Himeko could remember was how much she tried to keep holding on to that girl, how much she did not want to lose her. Every time, that dream filled Himeko with the same feeling she had felt the year before when Souma had asked her out. The same feeling of emptiness, of some connection between the past and the future. Himeko also had the same feeling every time she looked at her photo album, filled with pictures of herself alone. She felt as if there was supposed to be someone standing in those pictures with her. And ever since her birthday, the feeling had been growing. As Himeko's mind returned to reality, the door to the room opened. In stepped a girl, about Himeko's age, with short, messy brown hair and teal eyes. It was Himeko's friend and roommate, Makoto Saotome. Mako was wearing a white, sleeveless T-shirt and blue shorts, the clothes that she usually wore when she went running on the weekends. "Himeko," said Mako at seeing her roommate sitting up in bed. Then, with an amused smile, she said, "Well this is a first. You're usually still asleep when I get back on a Saturday. Is something wrong?" "No," replied Himeko. "It was a bad dream. That's all. Really, I'm just fine," Himeko said with a smile. Mako picked up a towel and started wiping the sweat from her face. "Well," said Mako, walking toward the bathroom to take a shower, "I hope you keep up this habit of waking up in the mornings. I'm really getting tired of having to wake you up day after day." "I'm sorry." "Hey, don't worry about it. We're roommates." "Thanks, Mako." As Himeko got out of bed, Mako said to her just before entering the bathroom, "Oh, by the way. Happy birthday, Himeko." "Thanks," said Himeko with a smile. As Himeko started removing her pink pajamas, she realized that it had been exactly one year since the day that that feeling of emptiness had filled her heart, one year since the day that the dreams had started, one year since the day that she had turned 16 years old. Somehow, Himeko felt that it had to be more than a coincidence that these emotions had appeared inside her on her birthday. However, Himeko simply shrugged it off. She had gotten used to having the same dream, as well as the strange feelings that she felt. She found a yellow, sleeveless undershirt, a plain, white skirt, and a blue, sleeveless pullover. After putting on a pair of white slipons and tying a white ribbon in her hair, Himeko picked up her blue shoulder bag and exited the room ready to go shopping as she had planned. ---------- Himeko waited at the crosswalk as she walked into town. It was a sunny day, and the sun's warmth comforted Himeko. It was as if the sun was shining just for her and only her. As the walk signal turned green, Himeko and the other pedestrians waiting at the crosswalk started walking. As Himeko started walking, a person on the other side of the street caught her eye. It was a girl, Himeko's age, walking toward her. She was wearing an elegant, white dress that, while casual, made her look like someone of high society. At first, Himeko did not pay this girl very much mind. However, as Himeko's eyes moved up the girl's body, she saw the necklace that the girl wore around her neck. It was a silver necklace with a pink seashell attached to it, hanging just bellow her collarbone. It looked exactly like the seashell that Himeko had found when she was little, the seashell that she now wore around her neck as a pendant! It was at that moment that a memory came to Himeko's mind. She remembered being on a beach with someone. This person was telling Himeko about the shell matching game, and how in the case of bivalves, every shell had only one perfect fit. This person also told Himeko that she believed that people were the same way and that there was someone out there that was Himeko's perfect fit. Then, Himeko saw the girl's face. She was as beautiful as an angel that had descended from the sky. She had beautiful, bluish-black hair that waved in the wind, and her eyes were a deep shade of blue, deep like a bottomless, mystical lake. As she looked into the girl's face, she felt that she had seen her somewhere before. Then, Himeko realized that it was the person that was in her memory of the beach. She was the one that had told her about the shell matching game! However, the beach was not the only place that Himeko had seen her. It was the girl in her dream! The person that she wanted to hold on to and never let go of! In a flash, Himeko's entire perception of reality changed. Everything that had happened over the past 365 days made sense! The dreams she had been having, the nostalgic yet precognitive feelings of emptiness that she had felt, it all came together as memories of this girl flooded into her mind. She knew who the girl was! Even though it was in another reality that she had known this girl, she remembered the time they spent together...and the undying love that they had felt for each other. Himeko ran toward the girl, and the girl just stood there, opening her arms, ready to accept the smaller girl running toward her. Himeko embraced her and buried her face in the girl's bosom, crying her name over and over again, "Chikane! Chikane! Chikane!" She was so overwhelmed with happiness that the only thing she could say was the girl's beautiful name, staining Chikane's white dress with tears of joy. "Yes, Himeko," Chikane said, tears running down her cheeks as well. "I'm here. I told you I would reincarnate. I told you I would come back to you, and I have!" Himeko and Chikane just held each other in their arms. They held each other for what felt like an eternity, but even an eternity was too short a time. They were broken out of their own world together by a loud honking noise. They looked in the direction of the noise to see a car in front of them, the driver honking the horn, looking very agitated. It was then that they realized that they were holding up traffic. They walked to the sidewalk, laughing at their action of stopping in the middle of the street. "I'm so happy you're back, Chikane," said Himeko, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Me too, Himeko," Chikane said. Then, the smile left Chikane's face and she said, "But unfortunately, we can't talk right now. He's coming." "Who?" asked Himeko, surprised. "Who's coming?" Just then, the sky darkened. A shadow fell over the land and the sun was obstructed by A swirling, purplish-black aura of dark energy. Chikane looked at the black sun in the sky and answered, "Orochi." Himeko gasped. 'Orochi?' she thought in horror. The ground beneath them shook, as if some giant creature was walking toward them. As they looked in the direction of the tremors, they heard screams coming from that direction. They saw people running in the streets, away from the dark sun, running away from the mechanical giant that was walking toward them. To be continued... ---------- Omake: Himeko knew who the girl was! It was the girl in her dream! Just like in the dream, the girl held out her hand toward Himeko and said to her, "Let's go...together."
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