Subject: [KFFDISC] A Starry Night's Deja Vu: Chapter 5 [rough draft] Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 04:55:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Honjou Mizu Reply-To: kffdisc@nabiki.com To: kffdisc@nabiki.com "A Starry Night's Deja Vu: Chapter 5" By Mizu Onna Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, so please don't sue! Author's Pre-Fic Note: Whew...[Sighs] Does this happen to every writer out there? I mean, that point when you simply can't write anything as much as you'd want to? ~_~ "My inspiration has run dry," as said by Natalie Imbruglia in her song "Torn". Anyway...I was a little late in posting it here at the KFFDisc, so some of you might see it twice (the members of the AMML). Gomen nasai to those. ^_^() I think that this chapter is the turning point of the whole series, and I worked somewhat more diligently on this than on the other portions of this fic. ^_^() Anyway... Inspiration for the clinic scene was from "Ayashi no Ceres" and Madeline L'Engle's works. ^_^ [] - Flashback/Visions ~*~*~ Despite Midori's inhibitions, she fell asleep rather quickly, and awoke to the relentless ringing of her alarm clock. She had had an awful dream, full of haunting visions wherein she was being drawn into a black vortex. She pleaded for the man named "Aoshi" to save her, but all he did was watch her get drawn into the tunnel without as much as a reaction. Needless to say, Midori was glad that she had wakened already, but she dreaded the day and what it would bring. Yukiko didn’t understand what she was undergoing. She just hoped that she didn’t have to run into Miryoku. How she made it through the day, she didn't know. She woke up, expecting another attack of dreams or whatever they were to kill her, but surprisingly her day went alright. Nothing happened out of the ordinary, except that she was tired, and already she had a ton of work to do. *I hate school.* She was exhausted. And hungry. And irritable. Midori eyed the soccer field venomously as she crossed it, the dew fresh from the earlier rain splashing upon her legs. Cutting across it diagonally was the easier way to reach the gate leading outside the school, and she was in no mood to take the longer, albeit drier route of the pathway around its edges. *Another bath's due later.* She grumbled internally. *Well, at least no scary visions happened today.* She could see the soccer players eyeing her curiously as she passed. She clenched her hands into fists and walked by stiffly. Let them wonder why she was walking there. *Stupid show-offs.* She thought disgustedly as one of them smiled charmingly at her and started to bounce the soccer ball on his knee. The rest of his friends gathered around him and clamored to play as well. Midori shook her head at the scene and continued her way. "OI! WATCH OUT!" A sharp crack sounded, and Midori fell to the ground in pain, gritting her teeth in a silent scream. The soccer ball dribbled to her side, falling from where it hit her wrist. "Sumimasen!" A boy crouched beside her, his eyes filled with worry. Apparently he was the one who kicked the ball in her direction. *Probably hoping to land it in front of me so that I'd pick it up and give it back to him.* Midori thought dimly as her wrist throbbed. "Daijoubu desu ka?" He persisted concernedly. "What does it look like?" Midori said tightly. The boy reached for the arm she was clutching and lifted it to his eyes. Midori cried out in pain, and he winced slightly, muttering an apology as he turned her hand around. "Her wrist's sprained!" He called out finally. "I'll take her to the clinic." He told his team. They nodded their consent, and he helped her up. There was something familiar about his body against hers that puzzled Midori somewhat. Just as they were walking away, a familiar voice spoke, "Let me bring her instead." *Idiots,* Kodama thought scathingly as he watched his teammates attempt to impress a passing girl. As they cleared into the field somewhat, he caught a glimpse of the student. It was Midori. Her face was tight with irritation, and she was scowling visiously. Probably she's had an awful day. Just like him. Kodama emerged from the crowd, a few inches taller than everyone. Midori flushed visibly as she eyed his form, clad in the soccer uniform. Despite the pain that was throbbing sharply in her hand, she felt lightheaded as she stared at Kodama. "Are you sure?" The boy who was supposed to take her asked dubiously. "Yeah." He said shortly. He placed his hands upon Midori's shoulders and steered her away. They walked in silence until they reached the clinic door. "Well, uh, I suppose you're going now?" Midori tried to make it a statement, but the end of the sentence curled into a question. "No." He answered as he opened the door for her to step through. "Oh." Midori said as entered the clinic. The smell of antiseptic stung their noses. The clinic was rather busy, so Kodama led Midori to the sinks in order to clean her arm, which was smeared with mud, before he could bandage it properly. He placed her hand above the tap, allowing the water to soothe her sprained wrist somewhat. "Arigatou..." Midori murmured, grimacing slightly as he turned her palm over. "Hn." Kodama replied softly, just loud enough for her to hear. She met his little noise with silence. Just as he was drawing the water up to her forearm to fully clean the injured surface, a blast of icy coldness collided into his form, jolting him sharply. The sounds around him were muted simultaneously, and his eyesight darkened as a million, screaming thoughts raced through his head. [Too innocent Pure, unlike me... Tainted hands I have tainted hands... My kodachi, used to kill... Her eyes Sparkling... Now extinguished. Doushite... Misao! Kodama looked at his hands, and to his horror, they were smeared with blood. Blood--crimson, blinding--seeped down his clothes, staining his skin, blending into the water that gushed from the faucet. Midori stared at him in horror, glancing at the spot where he was grasping her arm. Blood was oozing from where he held her, and she jerked back violently at the sight, shuddering in terror as she eyed him wildly. His hands were tainted.] "Kodama, daijoubu? Daijoubu?" Midori was repeating, shaking him in the process. He had undergone a trance, and as of the moment, he was just staring blankly at the sink. The faucet was open, spilling its contents onto their entwined arms, and he seemed to be staring at the spot. "Oi, Kodama! Daijoubu desu ka?" She half-hollered into his ear. Still, no response. Midori started to feel a little scared. "Ano...Kodama, if you don't answer, I'm going to call a nurse here!" She threatened, not knowing any other possible statement to revive him. And still, she was met with unflinching silence. "Ta--tasukette," Midori began to call for help, when to her relief, Kodama stirred. But shock was imminent as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell to the floor with a thud. "Kodama!" Midori immediately knelt beside him, shaking his shoulders as soon as he was within her reach. She ignored the pain shooting up her wrist as she struggled to bring him back to consciousness. A whisper blew through her ears at that exact moment, cutting off rational thought from bodily movements. She stopped whatever she was doing unknowingly and went into a trancelike state so similar to Kodama's own, her eyes glassy and unfocused. [History repeats itself. Don't allow it to happen again Mustn't let history run its course once more... History must be altered...] Midori was confused. What history? But her bemusement was cut short as something awful slammed into her; something like a cross between nausea and intense depression, stirring a tightening in her chest and gut. Her vision blacked as she fell to the floor with a thud. Tanoshi Hodoku answered the phone, frustrated as it rang endlessly off the hook. "Moshi moshi?" "Tanoshi-san?" A voice came across the line. "Hai?" He said. "The grandfather of Tanoshi Midori?" The professional voice asked. "Hai." He repeated. "Please come to pick her up at the school clinic, I think she can't walk back to your house." The nurse said. "She fainted a while ago." "Why? What happened? Is she alright now?" Hodoku questioned anxiously. "We believe she is. She's particularly demanding to see you, though." "I'll be right there." He said and immediately hung up without as much as a warning. The overhead lights blinded her eyesight as she struggled to see clearly. The world around her spun in a myriad of colors, blending softly into one another as paint melts into different shades. "Midori-chan." Her grandfather's voice piped into her thoughts. "Jiisan." Midori sighed, squinting to see his face hovering above hers. "Her pupils are still dilated, but she looks alright." She heard the nurse declaring. "What happened?" Midori leaned forward in order to sit up, and her ojiisan helped her by pushing her upright. She glanced around the clinic wildly. She bit her lip as she saw Kodama in the bed across her, his eyes shut. Even in his sleep he looked so cold, as if wary of everything else around him. "You fainted." Hodoku told her. "Honto?" Her sea green eyes widened. She glanced once more at Kodama's unconscious form. Hodoku followed her gaze and raised both eyebrows. "Anyone you know?" He asked, a slight smile curving his lips. "Uh, somewhat..." Midori felt herself turning red despite her attempts to sound and seem offhand. "I mean, we've talked a few times..." "He looks old." "He is. He's a college senior." She answered ruefully. Hodoku simply nodded silently. Just then, the clinic door opened, and the guy who hit her with the soccer ball came in all muddied up. He wiped his face on his sleeve and grinned sheepishly when he caught sight of Midori. "Sumimasen, miss. I didn't mean to get you into an accident like that." He apologized once more, gesturing vaguely to her now-bandaged arm. Midori hadn't even noticed that it was in a splint until he had pointed it out. "That's okay, I suppose." Midori sighed. She rose from her bed and her grandfather followed behind her. As her arm brushed the boy's, a name surfaced in her muddled mind: Shiro. Shaking it away, she clenched her uninjured fist and followed her grandfather outside the clinic. ~*~*~ Author's Note: I hate this, being stuck in a rut. ~_~ I never should've attempted reincarnation fics, they end up to be incredibly cliched. Well, I don't like leaving anything I've done unfinished, so I suppose I'll get back to work on this within the month...I hope... Please, everyone, COMMENTS! Without them, I'm not quite getting anywhere... ===== "...I feel once more the poignancy of those late night hours, the sound haunting me like a call from an oracle across the ocean of time, beckoning towards a land of dreams." --Adeline Yen Mah in "Falling Leaves"